Upstate New York Communities Assessing Flood Damage

Residents of several western New York communities are cleaning up the mess left behind by floodwaters that swept through the region, killing a man and damaging hundreds of homes.

Some roads remain closed Tuesday morning in parts of southern Erie County and neighboring Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties, where some of the hardest hit areas are located.

Gov. David Paterson has declared a state disaster emergency in the three counties to provide them with recovery aid.

In the village of Gowanda, 30 miles south of Buffalo, emergency crews worked through the night to pump out basements flooded when the Cattaraugus Creek overflowed its banks. Village officials say streets are now passable after being closed by the flooding.

Extensive damage was also reported in the village of Silver Creek on Lake Erie.