MOSCOW, November 19 (Sputnik) — A lake-effect snow storm covering New York state’s Erie County in up to 6 feet of snow Tuesday has claimed the lives of four people, according to an online statement by Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz posted on the county’s website.
“Unfortunately, there have been four storm-related fatalities: one from a vehicular accident and three from cardiac events, two which were believed to have happened when individuals were shovelling the heavy snow,” the statement says. In the same statement, Commissioner Burstein, Erie County Commissioner of Health, urges the residents to avoid shovelling in areas where snow is heaviest, especially those with cardiac conditions and seniors.
Poloncarz declared a state of emergency in the county, including a travel ban in various municipalities, with only emergency personnel allowed on the roads.
South Buffalo, the seat of Erie County, was particularly hard hit; with the county executive saying the damage was “bad, it is very bad” in a press conference held on Tuesday around dawn.
The storm is a result of the so-called lake effect coming from the Great Lakes of northeast United States, where cold winds freeze and pick up moisture over the lakes and blow them onto land. It is also the reason why areas not far from the snow-buried towns were barely affected.
The snowstorm is forecast to last through Thursday, reaching parts of central New York before subsiding.
