Great Lakes region braces for more snow while cleaning up after lake-effect storms

Even more snow could be on the way for places in the Great Lakes region that are still digging out after days of storms caused deadly wrecks, collapsed a barn on top of 100 cows and buried some towns under nearly 6 feet (1.8 meters).

While cleanup was still taking place Tuesday around parts of western New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan — where some places saw just an inch or two of snow while others were hit with several feet — areas in New York were still seeing snowfall and a lake-effect snow warning remained through much of Tuesday. Some spots could get another 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of snow, according to the National Weather Service.

Layers of snow piled on top of an Ohio high school caused its roof to partially collapse while the building was closed over the weekend. School officials near Ashtabula found more damage on Monday, saying it would take weeks to repair and that they were making plans to move classes elsewhere.

More than five feet (1.5 meters) of snow blanketed the area east of Cleveland along Lake Erie and more was expected later in the week, with a winter storm watch in place from the weather service beginning Wednesday night into Friday.

Todd Brainard used a roof rake to scrape several feet of snow from the top of his house in North Perry, Ohio.

“I just don’t want to take the chance of having the roof cave in on my kids or wife or any one of us,” he said Tuesday. “A lot of people haven’t seen this amount of snow in a long time.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency in four counties on Tuesday, noting that more snow squalls and high winds were expected in the coming days.

In neighboring western Pennsylvania, another 3 to 9 inches (8 to 23 centimeters) could fall from late Wednesday through Thursday morning. Many school districts in the western part of the state remained closed Tuesday after several days of lake-effect snow.

Members of the Pennsylvania National Guard were using Humvees and tactical vehicles to transport health care workers and those needing medical care while also rescuing stranded drivers during the past four days, according to a spokesperson, Maj. Travis Mueller.

In Erie, Pennsylvania, which was buried under several feet of snow, more than 200 cars were left abandoned in the snow, hampering efforts to clear streets. Even for a city accustomed to lake-effect snow, the storm was “unprecedented” in its intensity, said the city’s assistant fire chief, Gregory Purchase.

Erie County officials asked residents to help dig out fire hydrants on their streets and added that inmates from the jail were expected to be enlisted in the effort starting Wednesday.

The heavy snow in recent days was blamed for a series of fatal accidents. Three people died Monday morning in an Iowa crash involving two vehicles after a driver crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic to pass a snowplow, according to the Iowa State Patrol.

In western Kentucky, two people died in a crash Monday night that blocked Interstate 24 for hours. Winter weather conditions had caused multiple accidents along the highway, officials said.

Meanwhile in southeast Alaska, an ice storm warning was in effect along with flood watches because of rain and melting snow, the weather service said. Juneau, the capital city, received heavy snowfall over the weekend before precipitation transitioned to rain and temperatures warmed.