Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The NYS Thruway Police expect to take a mid morning plane ride to assess how many people may be stranded on the closed section south of Dunkirk., in both lanes, between there and the Pennsylvania border.
Volunteer snowmobiles and ATVs are being used to find those who can not wait out the hours it will take to clear snow and vehicles from a 13- mile stretch. Officials say some may have been in their cars since at least midnight.
 NYS Thruway Closed Between Dunkirk & Pennsylvania - All Lanes
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Capt. Mike Nigrelli, NYS Police
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Emergency On The Thruway: Call 836-0240 |
People are advised to stay in their cars and await rescue, as long as they have gasoline or unless there is some sort of medical emergency. If your are in severe trouble, call 836-0240.
The amount of snow and cars is too great for people to try and work their way off the Thruway on their own, according to NYS Police Capt. Michael Nigrelli. He advises people to run their engines for approx 10 minutes each hour to balance the need to save gas and still stay warm.
Photo Courtesy NYS Thruway Authority- Friday Morning, 9:17am
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Nigrelli, in a live interview with WBEN Friday morning could not estimate how long it will take to clear the cars and reopen the roadway.
Nigrelli says he is hopeful that it could be open by noon, but until an aerial survey is made he's unable to say with any certainty. Extra staff has been added to try and speed the process along, he says,
Intense Lake Effect snows continue in southern Erie County and ski country, with a band stretching from Holland and East through Wyoming County.
The accumulating lake effect snow combined with continued windy conditions will create significant blowing and drifting snow in those lake effect bands. This Will result in near blizzard conditions at times with near zero visibility and significant blowing snow, especially in open areas.
Travel Friday will be extremely difficult in the lake effect snow areas, with some roads becoming impassable.
The lake effect machine finally pushed a very intense snow band to the far southtowns and ski country overnight, leaving significant accumulations of more than a foot in spots.
The blowing and drifting snow caused the Thruway to become a parking lot at times, other times traffic was moving slowly.
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