A powerful blizzard brought over 76 cm of snow to some areas of the northeastern US, paralyzing traffic. Thousands of homes were left without electricity, and about 7,400 flights were canceled.
A powerful blizzard on Monday brought more than 76.2 cm of snow to some areas of the northeastern United States, practically paralyzing traffic for millions of residents, as dangerous weather conditions led to road closures, suspension of rail services, and cancellation of about 7,400 flights, writes UNN with reference to Reuters.
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Thousands of homes and businesses were left without electricity, and officials, including New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani, urged residents to refrain from traveling on roads so that emergency services could clear the streets. Schools in New York City and across the region were closed. Broadway shut down its theaters.
"New York City remains under a state of emergency," Mamdani said. "The travel ban ended today at noon (local time Monday – ed.), but the warning for travelers remains in effect until midnight."
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More than 48 cm of snow fell in New York's Central Park on Monday, and more than 35 cm in Boston, said Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the US National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center.
Winds, which at times reached speeds of 64 to 100 km/h, created high snowdrifts.
"It will probably take a week to clear," Oravec said.
Philadelphia received 35 cm of snow, and Providence, Rhode Island, received more than 81 cm, a record for the city.
According to PowerOutage.us, as of Monday noon, more than 608,711 homes and businesses across the US remained without power. This affected one in ten of the nearly 3 million electricity consumers in Massachusetts, data for which is tracked by PowerOutage.us.
Many were struck by the depth of the snowfall. Sandra Wu, who has lived for about 20 years in New Hyde Park, on hard-hit Long Island, said she had never seen such a severe winter storm. Her family could not open the front door, and little could be seen from some windows due to high snowdrifts.
As of Monday, at least seven US states had declared a state of emergency due to the storm.
According to FlightAware.com, by Monday noon, airlines had canceled more than 7,400 flights and delayed another 2,300. This figure includes more than 1,800 flights canceled on Tuesday, according to the website. Most cancellations and delays were in the northeastern US, including John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in New York, Logan Airport in Boston, and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had deployed 100 National Guard troops to assist on Long Island, in New York City, and in the lower Hudson Valley – areas expected to be most affected by heavy snowfall and coastal winds. The storm forced the closure of the UN Headquarters complex in Manhattan on Monday.
The US Department of Homeland Security said that despite funding cuts, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster response operations would continue uninterrupted, including staff travel, emergency relief operations, and critical assistance to people affected by active disasters.
Last week, Reuters reported that the Trump administration ordered FEMA to suspend sending hundreds of humanitarian workers to disaster-stricken areas across the country while the Department of Homeland Security was in shutdown mode.
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Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey declared a state of emergency and urged state employees to stay home. In Connecticut, commercial traffic was banned on limited-access highways, except for emergency and essential deliveries.
Train and bus services in New Jersey were suspended, and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority said it would suspend all services until Monday and would only announce plans to resume operations after weather conditions improved.
Even some ships were affected by the storm. Wu said her elderly relatives were stuck on a cruise ship docked in New York Harbor, unable to begin their planned vacation voyage to the Bahamas.
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