A new blast of lake-effect snow pounded Buffalo for a third day on Thursday, piling more misery on a city already buried by an epic, deadly snowfall that could leave some areas with nearly 8 feet of snow on the ground when it's all done.
Forecasters say a rapid weekend warmup, with temperatures as high as 60 and rain, could turn all that snow into floods.
"It is an extraordinary situation," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. "It will get worse before it gets better."
The storm was blamed for at least seven deaths — including those of a 46-year-old man found in a car, another person who died in a car crash and four from heart attacks, NBC News reported.
Officials said Wednesday evening that the seventh person was an elderly man with a heart condition, who died at an urgent care center after he had a health emergency and was unable to be transported to a proper care facility.
"We just want to reinforce that this storm is very, very dangerous. It is a killer storm," Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said.
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A 132-mile stretch of the New York State Thruway remained closed Wednesday as officials worked to rescue stranded motorists, The Associated Press reported.
[NATL-DO-NOT-USE] Extreme Weather 2014
Among those rescued overnight were members of Niagara University's women's basketball team, who were stuck in their bus on the Thruway for nearly 30 hours. Some players posted selfies on social media documenting their ordeal.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, declared a state of emergency for 10 counties and deployed the National Guard to help those affected. He said Wednesday afternoon that all trapped travelers had been removed from their cars, though some truckers were staying with their rigs.
Mayor Byron Brown is asking city residents and others to adhere to the travel ban that has been put in effect in South Buffalo.
Lifelong Buffalo resident Nick Giammusso, 46, was shocked by the levels of snow from Tuesday's storm.
"We're used to the snow but not this," Giammusso told NBC. "There's 5 feet of snow outside my house. A friend has snow up to his shoulders at his home."
Below, you can see some photos people in and around Buffalo have shared on social media:
