(Bloomberg) -- Lake-effect snow that killed eight people andhalted travel across western New York may reach as high as 7 feetin some areas before stopping tomorrow, when temperatures will risealong with the risk of flooding.

The state has sent about 1,300 workers and 658 pieces ofsnow-clearing equipment to the area where the snow has to be dugrather than plowed because it’s so heavy, Governor Andrew Cuomosaid. Photographs posted on Twitter showed houses buried to theeaves and cars covered on highways. Schools closed and maildelivery ground to a halt.

During a break in the snow, workers made progress clearingroads, though some closings and driving bans remain in place beforethe next blast of precipitation moves in, Cuomo said today at apress briefing.

“This is the largest deployment of its kind ever,” Cuomo said inCheektowaga, a town east of Buffalo. “There are literally thousandsof people from across the state coming in to help.”

Cuomo and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said localofficials should be counting every dollar they spend, includingpizza orders for volunteer firefighters, as they seek to meet theminimum threshold for federal disaster funding.

Eight Killed

Eight people died in the storm, most of them from heart attacks,the Associated Press said, citing officials in Erie County, whichincludes Buffalo, and neighboring Genessee County.

The National Guard, which Cuomo called in Nov. 18., is workingwith the state police to do house checks on residents who may havehealth problems, Joseph D’Amico, the police superintendent, said atpress briefing today. The Guard is also clearing roofs that are indanger of collapsing.

Lancaster, east of the city, had more than 6 feet (1.8 meters)of snow as of this morning, the National Weather Service said.Normally, Buffalo receives about 94.7 (241 centimeters) inches peryear, according to the agency’s website.

“This snowfall may break all kinds of records, and that’s sayingsomething in western New York,” Cuomo said yesterday.

The New York State Thruway was closed between Ripley, New York,near the border with Pennsylvania, and Rochester, 139 miles (224kilometers) away, according to the Thruway Authority’s website.

Drivers Trapped

About 150 people were trapped for a time on the highway, eventhough Cuomo ordered it closed before the storm hit, Poloncarzsaid. A jackknifed tractor-trailer caused a traffic jam just as thesnow began. Cuomo said drivers failed to obey the closing orderbefore officials could block entrance ramps.

The trapped drivers were freed, although some truck driverschose to stay with their rigs, Cuomo said.

An estimated 220,000 tons of snow need to be moved in RalphWilson Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills, said Andy Major, theNational Football League team’s vice president of operations. Teamspokesman Scott Berchtold said the Bills were preparing to play asscheduled Nov. 23 against the New York Jets.

The snow was caused by lake-effect storms, which occur when coldair passes over relatively warm water. Water temperature in lakesErie and Ontario range from the high 30s Fahrenheit to the mid-40s(about 7 Celsius), according to the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration.

By this weekend, temperatures will moderate and reach into the50s, Church said.

“Our next concern will be thinking about any flooding once thesnow starts to melt,” Church said. “We may be dealing with theaftermath of this for a while.”

--With assistance from Mason Levinson in New York.

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