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Snow, but not anger, eases along N.Y. highway

Vehicles shown stranded on the New York State Thruway during a winter storm in Buffalo Thursday.
Vehicles shown stranded on the New York State Thruway during a winter storm in Buffalo Thursday.David Duprey / AP
/ Source: The Associated Press

Emergency procedures will be reviewed after a lake-effect snowstorm and a flawed response left hundreds of motorists stranded for hours on a highway near — of all places — Buffalo.

New York State Thruway Authority Executive Director Michael Fleischer said Friday the agency should have closed nearly two dozen non-toll entrance ramps to Interstate 90 much sooner after jackknifed tractor-trailers blocked traffic just east of Buffalo, a city that prides itself on soldiering on during snowstorms that would cripple other towns.

He also said officials should have done a better job alerting drivers that delays loomed ahead and shouldn't have waited so long to get help to the stranded motorists, some stuck for 20 hours or more.

Two deaths were blamed on the weather Thursday, unrelated to the Thruway backup. Stephanie Veratti, 26, of Gasport, died Thursday night after her car slid and collided with a truck in suburban Amherst, authorities said. Lancaster police said a 78-year-old man died Thursday after collapsing while shoveling snow. His name was not released.