Flooding expected in Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Residents of flood-prone areas around Buffalo should move valuables up from the basement, pack a bag and prepare for the possibility of evacuation as up to 7 feet of melting snow posed the threat of flooding, Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned Sunday.

Across the region, where rising temperatures were expected to approach 60 degrees today, people took that advice to heart.

The melt could first cause basements to fill up and roads to flood, but another concern was creeks overflowing.

Cuomo said evacuation plans and emergency shelters were being readied in case of flooding Sunday night and today. As a shelter backup, Cuomo said the state would have shelters at community colleges and state university campuses.

The state Thruway, closed for 132 miles at the height of the lake-effect storm last week, was open Sunday. All driving bans were lifted except in Lackawanna, where snow-removal crews worked to open up streets that had become parking lots with hundreds of abandoned, buried vehicles.