( CNN ) -- There are 5 1/2 feet of snow outside and on top of Chrissy Hazard 's home in the Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga , New York . A treadmill and table prop up a door felled by the snow 's attempted push into the home . But everything 's all right for now , she told CNN 's `` Anderson Cooper 360 . '' `` We 're good . We 're buried in the house but we 're doing OK , '' she said . Hazard is stuck inside the home with her husband , a friend , seven children and some dogs . It may be three or four days before they can get out , she said . There is a small patch of yard that offers the pups a chance to go outside . And there 's more wintery precipitation on the way after a respite Wednesday . CNN Severe Weather Expert Chad Myers said that 20 to 30 more inches of snow will fall Thursday during a 10-hour window . There is so much snow , Buffalo officials are n't even plowing . Instead hundreds of dump trucks venture out to haul snow away from the 10 square miles that have been pummeled by the lake-effect snow . Other areas of New York 's second-most populous city only received 1 to 6 inches , officials said . Seven deaths in the region -- including one man whose car was buried under more than a foot of snow -- are blamed on the extreme storm , authorities said . Firefighters came to check on the Hazard family on Tuesday as many emergency workers put in double shifts and got little sleep . Stories about acts of bravery and kindness were emerging even as the snow was piling up and up in the city on Lake Erie . Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and city officials Wednesday recounted stories of rescuers trudging around snow drifts as high as houses to get people to hospitals , of fire stations turned into temporary shelters and police officers delivering special baby formula to a pair of infants . `` It is clear that we are one Buffalo , '' Brown said . Buffalo prides itself as `` The City of Good Neighbors . '' `` Buffalo itself , known as a city of neighbors , has come together and shown a real sense of community and neighbor helping neighbor , which is always good to see , '' New York Gov . Andrew Cuomo told reporters . Snow across the land . About 50 % of the United States had snow on the ground Tuesday , according to the National Weather Service . There were also forecasts for heavy snow for counties in Michigan and Vermont . All 50 states registered temperatures below freezing Tuesday morning , even traditionally warm ones . Temperatures at Mauna Kea on Hawaii 's Big Island dipped to 31 degrees while Florida 's Panhandle was in the upper 20s , with freeze warnings in effect . The cause of this mayhem : Arctic air pouring over the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes is producing extreme lake-effect snows . Unheard of amounts of snow . Buffalo Niagara International Airport , about a 20-minute drive from downtown , was operating Wednesday afternoon but many people were having trouble navigating the snow-covered streets to get to the airport . Most airlines canceled some flights , according to airline representatives and airport spokesman C. Douglas Hartmayer . `` This storm is basically a knife that went right through the heart of Erie County , '' said Mark Poloncarz , Erie County executive . `` I ca n't remember and I do n't think anyone else can remember this much snow falling in this short a period . '' Mayor Brown and other western New York officials said the cost of cleaning up after this week 's storm will be significant , requiring the city and neighboring municipalities to seek assistance from the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency . Buffalo State Assemblyman Sean Ryan Wednesday said the area may get `` more snowfall this week than the rest of the whole winter combined , '' wiping out entire storm budgets in one event . Wednesday night 's football game between the State University of New York , Buffalo and Kent State was postponed because of travel issues . The Buffalo Bills , who play the New York Jets on Sunday at 1 p.m . ET , are seeking the public 's help to clear an estimated 220,000 tons of snow from Ralph Wilson Stadium , the team announced on its website . The helpers will be paid $ 10 an hour , plus game tickets if they work a certain number of hours . The team said the NFL would decide if the game should be rescheduled . Temperatures are expected to break through freezing on Saturday and reach the 50s on Sunday , the National Weather Service said . But rain is also likely . `` That would be a terrible thing , '' Myers said . `` If it rains -- and it probably will at least on the weekend -- all of that snow is not going to melt right away . That snow is going to hold that rain in and then that snow on top is going to get heavier and heavier . '' This is only the area 's first snowfall of the winter , but South Buffalo has seen almost as much snow in 24 hours as it experiences in an entire season . About 84 inches is normal , but about 6 feet -- 72 inches -- has fallen since Tuesday . Brown predicted a `` long way to go '' before efforts to clear Buffalo 's roadways are finished . Already , more than 6,500 tons of snow have been removed from city streets and highways . `` It is going to be a slow go , '' the mayor said . `` Historic amounts of snow have fallen . There is no place to put that snow . '' A driving ban remains in effect in South Buffalo , with rescuers using snowmobiles to respond to emergency calls . Emboldened by Wednesday 's sunshine many people headed out onto the streets only to find themselves stranded . Authorities received 12 calls from people stuck in the snow . Thankfully , there were relatively few power outages in and near Buffalo , where 72 customers did n't have electricity Wednesday night , New York State Electric and Gas Corp. reported . Snow fatalities . Of the seven deaths blamed on the storm , six were in Erie County and one in Genesee County . Erie County officials said one of the deaths was from a car accident and three other people died due to cardiac issues that resulted from shoveling snow . In Alden , New York , a 46-year-old man was found dead inside a car buried in 12 to 15 feet of snow , authorities said . In Genesee County , Jack Boyce , a 56-year-old county employee , died after collapsing Tuesday morning while operating a snow blower outside the county sheriff 's office , according to county manager Jay Gsell . On Wednesday , Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein said an elderly man with a known heart condition had died . `` He had an exacerbation of his condition where he needed emergency medical care and he was unable to be transported to a care facility that had the highest level of care , '' she said , adding that the patient died at an `` urgent care center . '' Trapped at the fire station . The snow left people stranded in cars and turned roadways into parking lots . It also forced residents to seek shelter in unusual places . About 70 people took refuge at a Buffalo fire station and 20 others holed up in a police station Tuesday night , authorities said . By morning , most had returned home . And as they waited , those at the fire station got a teeny weeny gift . A baby girl was delivered there when an ambulance was unable to take her mother to the hospital , Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield said . `` She was born , she 's safe and she 's healthy , '' Whitfield said . CNN 's Ashley Fantz , Faith Karimi , Daniel Verello , Kevin Dotson , Chuck Johnston , Martin Savidge and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report .
NEW : 20 to 30 more inches of snow on Thursday . Elderly woman with cardiac arrest becomes 7th storm victim . Cost of this storm may wipe out storm budgets planned for entire winter . Buffalo firefighters and emergency personnel come together during massive storm .