Residents have woken up to find their homes transformed into ‘eerie’ dark igloos overnight, after a blizzard blasted western New York.

The weekend’s freezing blast has left the shore-front homes of Lake Erie, Hamburg, completely coated in muddy ice, with many comparing the image to a scene out of Narnia.

Although homes resembled elaborate ice sculptures, many described the experience as ‘frightening’ after thick icicles barricaded their doors shut and covered their windows leaving them trapped inside in the dark.

Ed Mis, who has lived along Hoover Beach for eight years, said his property was covered in 3 feet of ice and it was so thick he had to chip his way out.

‘It looks fake, it looks unreal. It’s dark on the inside of my house. It can be a little eerie, a little frightening.’

On Thursday night there was no ice but by Friday morning, the lake-front homes and nearby trees were frozen solid after temperatures dipped below -6C with heavy snow.

A mixture of gale force winds over two days created 10-foot waves on the lake, which sprayed the water up to the shore and covered the homes, say weather experts.

‘When you are down in the low to mid-20s, all of that spray that comes up and hits the buildings is going to freeze and make it a giant icicle,’ winter weather expert, Tom Niziol, told the Weather Channel.

Mr Mis said it is the sixth storm the area has been hit with in just a few months and residents are becoming fearful of it becoming a regular occurrence.

He added that although the ice started to melt over the weekend, he is now concerned about the structural damage it may have caused to the properties.

‘We’re worried about the integrity, of structure failure when it starts to melt, because of the weight on the roof,’ he said.

Hamburg’s Emergency Services Manager said the ice must thaw before teams can assess the full extent of the damage to homes.

Town officials said they have requested funding to install a break wall and other protective measures for 2020.

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