A New York man is recovering from hypothermia and frostbite after a snowplow buries him in his car and detained him for 10 hours during the snowstorm that hit the Northeast this week, according to New York State Police.
Kevin Kresen, 58, was sitting in his car on the side of the road in Owego, New York on Wednesday evening, when a snow plow buried him under an unshakable mass of snow.
Kresen was unable to heat the interior because the car’s serpentine belt was broken, police said. Despite multiple calls to the emergency center, agents were unable to locate Kresen for ten hours as the storm raged all night.
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Owego is located 10 miles south of Newark Valley, NY, where the storm’s highest snow accumulation was received – 44 inches.
After ten hours at freezing temperatures, Kresen suffered from hypothermia and frostbite.
Thursday morning, Tioga County 911 dispatchers told NYSP Sgt. Jason Cawley said they couldn’t find a driver who said he was stranded on Owego’s State Route 17C.
While he searched the area, Sgt. Cawley thought he saw a row of hidden mailboxes and dug them out to check their addresses. Instead, he found the windshield of the buried car.
Police say Kresen was taken to Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton to receive treatment for his cold weather injuries.
Kresen did not immediately respond to a request from NBC News for comment.
Kathryn Prociv contributed.