In Buffalo, Finger-Pointing and Growing Complaints Over Storm Response

Mr. Poloncarz acknowledged the controversy on Twitter Wednesday. “As I said earlier today in response to whether the driving ban should have been instituted earlier, I do not know if it would have changed anything but it was my decision and I bear full responsibility,” he wrote. “As JFK said, ‘victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan.’ ”

Of those who died in the storm, more than a dozen were found outside. Other deaths were attributed to delays by emergency personnel. Some people froze in their homes. Some died in their cars. Several suffered cardiac arrest while trying to shovel or use snowblowers. Officials have said they expect the death toll to rise as more victims are found and identified.

On Wednesday hundreds of National Guard troops fanned out across the area. Officials said that their mission had largely shifted from rescue operations to checks of homes that lost power and to the enormous project of removing snow from streets.

As the temperature rose, four-person crews in about 25 Humvee vehicles checked on some of the hundreds of homes that still remained without power, officials said. Soldiers armed with shovels helped ease access for utility companies fixing downed lines.

“Any place that is out of power, we’re sending people to check on them,” said Eric Durr, director of public affairs at the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs.

About 14 green and tan Humvees, as well as larger supply and security trucks, were lined up just north of downtown Buffalo outside the Connecticut Street Armory. Downtown streets were largely cleared, with massive piles of snow pushed to the side of roadways.

Legions of front loaders, in some cases trailed by state police vehicles, made significant progress overnight Tuesday into Wednesday in residential areas.

Just before midnight Tuesday, several residents stood out front of their homes cheering and waving, shovels in hand, as a lone loader rolled down a side street pushing and scooping mounds of snow off to the side of the road, opening up a single lane to dig out their vehicles that had been trapped in a catacomb of snow for nearly five days.