2 dead after shoveling heavy snow as winter storm batters Upstate New York
New York residents in Buffalo and other parts of the state are waking up Friday morning to heavy snowfall that could that officials warn could "paralyze" the hardest hit communities.
Two men died in western New York as a major winter storm smothered the Buffalo area and other parts of the state with feet of snow, officials said.
Snow kept falling Friday, and a lake-effect snow warning remained in effect until 1 p.m. Sunday. In Orchard Park, southeast of Buffalo, 5 1/2 feet of snow had fallen by 8 p.m., the National Weather Service said.
The two deaths were “cardiac events related to exertion during shoveling/snow blowing,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said in a statement.
The snow was falling fast at times, with rates of 1 to 3 inches an hour, the weather agency said.
"The reports we just had is, it’s some of the worst conditions that our public works department and sheriff’s deputies have ever faced in a storm," Poloncarz said.
Rating: 5