At least 7 die as snow, cold pummel East

In New York, the cold just added to the misery of a massive snowfall. One death came from an accident in Cheektowaga, N.Y., where a vehicle was helping a stuck vehicle gain traction in the snow. When the stuck vehicle was able to back up, it pinned one of the men between the two vehicles. A 30-year-old from Pennsylvania died.

A 46-year-old man from Alden, N.Y., died in his car, which rescuers found buried in snow, officials said Wednesday.

Crews say some areas have so much snow that it's like plowing a brick wall. Rescuers, who have been using snowmobiles, also have been walking car to car to try to dig out people stuck in their vehicles. The last time a storm this huge hit was in December 2001, when 80 to 90 inches of snow fell on the region in a five-day period.

Dozens of drivers, including Caitlin Battaglia of Hamburg, N.Y., have been stranded on the New York State Thruway for more than 24 hours. She picked up her boyfriend at work late Monday, headed westbound on Interstate 90, got stuck and has been stranded ever since without any contact from state police or Thruway officials, she said.

"We don't know when we're going to get out of here," she told WGRZ-TV via Facetime. "We don't have food. We don't have water. I think we're down to maybe a half tank of gas.

"The snow is coming down so much right now that I don't see us getting out of here for another day. It's bad, maybe even two days," Battaglia said.

A bus with the Niagara University women's basketball team was stuck for more than 24 hours in the eastbound lanes of the same interstate after attempting to return from a game in Pittsburgh. State troopers eventually were able to pick them up and bring them to a nearby police station, Niagara guard Tiffany Corselli said.

Snow blown by strong winds forced the closing of a 132-mile stretch of the Thruway, the main highway across New York state.

In some cases, rescuers have been unable to use snowmobiles because of the way the snow has compacted and created drifts as high as 8 feet.

In New Hampshire and elsewhere, icy roads led to accidents. Lake-effect storms in Michigan produced gale-force winds and as much as 18 inches of snow, and canceled several flights at the Grand Rapids airport.

Schools closed in the North Carolina mountains amid blustery winds and ice-coated roads. In Indiana, three firefighters were hurt when a semi-trailer hit a fire truck on a snowy highway.