A man who said he was trapped in his home for four days amid record snowfall in Buffalo, New York, has been rescued by the National Guard.

Streets have been covered in 7ft (over 2m) of snow or more, closing roads and trapping hundreds of people in their cars and homes.

Gary Lehsten said he was among those trapped by snow piling up on front doors.

"Couldn't get my door open," he said. "All the snow came off the roof and packed the door in."

Mr Lehsten said he could not reach anyone on the phone to help, but he saw the National Guard, which has been called in to help clear the roads, and yelled out to the soldiers.

12 people have died since the storm began earlier in the week.

The most recent victims were two elderly residents of a nursing home that was evacuated amid concerns of a roof collapse.

Some 180 patients have been moved from a health care facility in Cheektowaga, near Buffalo, over fears about a roof collapse.

Little or no snow was expected on Friday, but with warming temperatures and rain, there is a risk of flooding.

Residents of Buffalo are used to snow - though not quite this much - and they have proved resilient.

The Buffalo News reports that Brian Tramontana has walked through waist-high snow to make special volunteer deliveries to people.

He delivered specially mixed baby formula to a parent, and went to a pharmacy to pick up prescription medicines for someone stuck in their home.

With the stadium buried in snow, the Buffalo Bills called for help, offering $10 per hour to anybody willing to step in and shovel thousands of tonnes of snow.

But with roads impassable and driving bans in effect, the NFL decided to move the Bills' Sunday home game against the New York Jets to Monday night in Detroit.

In East Aurora, a local theatre was supposed to show the latest film in the Hunger Games saga but snow piled up and forced it to close.

So the theatre opted for a variation of a classic quote from another movie, making a sign which said: "Go Ahead Mother Nature, Make My Day."