4 die in major snowstorm in NY

Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y.

Four people died during a storm that dumped more than 4 feet of snow around Buffalo and forced motorists in 150 vehicles, including a women’s basketball team, to ride it out in their vehicles on a day when temperatures dropped to freezing or below in all 50 states.

One person was killed in an automobile accident and three others had heart attacks, including two believed to be shoveling snow at the time, Erie County officials said.

The snowstorm stranded cars, trucks and buses on a 4-mile section near Buffalo. Officials expected them to be freed late Tuesday after the paralyzing ordeal that lasted nearly 24 hours for some motorists.

“It seemed like a nightmare. It just didn’t feel like it was going to end,” Bryce Foreback, 23, of Chicora, Pa., told The Associated Press by cellphone 20 hours into his wait for help. “I haven’t slept in like 30 hours, and I’m just waiting to get out of here.”

Members of the Niagara University women’s basketball team were napping on and off 17 hours into their wait. Some got so thirsty they drank melted snow, said Coach Kenra Faustin, who was traveling with her 1-year-old.

Team spokeswoman Chelsea Andorka said the bus, with about 25 players and coaches aboard, was headed back from a loss in Pittsburgh when it came to a halt at 2 a.m. Tuesday.

“We were told the National Guard was coming by but haven’t seen any signs of life,” Andorka said. “The first time they came, they told us to be prepared to stay for a while. One tow truck passed six or seven hours ago.”

In a region accustomed to highway-choking snowstorms, this one is being called one of the worst in memory. Snow blown by strong winds forced the closing of a 132-mile stretch of the Thruway, the main highway across New York state.

Meteorologists say temperatures in all 50 states fell to freezing or below Tuesday. They say the low temperatures were more reminiscent of January than November.

In New Hampshire and elsewhere, icy roads led to accidents. Lake-effect storms in Michigan produced gale-force winds and as much as 18 inches of snow, and canceled several flights at the Grand Rapids airport.

Schools closed in the North Carolina mountains amid blustery winds and ice-coated roads. In Indiana, three firefighters were hurt when a semitrailer hit a firetruck on a snowy highway.

In Atlanta, tourists Morten and Annette Larsen from Copenhagen were caught off-guard by the 30-degree weather as they took photos of a monument to the 1996 summer Olympics at Centennial Olympic Park.

“It’s as cold here as it is in Denmark right now. We didn’t expect that,” Larsen said, waving a hand over his denim jacket, buttoned tightly over a hooded sweatshirt.

The National Weather Service warned that the snow, generated by cold air blowing over the warmer Great Lakes, would continue through today and eventually could total 6 feet in places. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo deployed 150 member of the National Guard to help clear snow-clogged roads and remove abandoned vehicles.