"Our street looked like it was hit by a hurricane. It looks like the apocalypse. It's unreal," Buffalo resident Matthew Colken said. "One-hundred-year-old trees are down."
National Grid, which reported 237,000 customers without electricity at 6 a.m., worked through the night but many customers were expected to be without power through the weekend and into next week, spokesman Steve Brady said. A major problem was getting crews on the road, he said.
"Our people are getting stuck in the driveway here," Brady said. "Many of the roads are, if not impassible, near impassible."
New York State Electric & Gas reported an additional 104,000 without power in the region as of 6 a.m.
Erie County authorities said two people, including an off-duty state trooper, died in traffic accidents, and one person died after being hit by a falling tree limb while shoveling snow.
Gov. George Pataki asked President Bush to declare a federal emergency in Erie, Genesee, Niagara and Orleans counties. If the request is granted, the Federal Emergency Management Agency would provide reimbursement to local and state agencies for 75 percent of the total eligible costs for snow and debris removal.
