A storm that forecasters warned could earn a place in the history books with up to three feet of snow left half a million homes and businesses in the US northeast without electricity and battered by blizzard conditions.
By Friday night the National Weather Service reported snow falling in some areas at a rate of up to five inches an hour, and wind gusts of up to 75mph along the Massachusetts coast and through greater Boston. More than 18 inches of snow fell in parts of Massachusetts and northeastern Connecticut, and more was expected by Saturday morning.
Thousands of people had their travel plans disrupted as more than 5,000 flights from some 60 airports were cancelled, including New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Toronto, according to FlightAware, the tracking website.#
Severe weather warnings reached from Pennsylvania to Maine’s border with Canada, with coastal flood warnings as far south as Delaware. Hurricane-force winds were anticipated for the south shore of Long Island from the Hamptons to Montauk at the eastern tip. Rail travel was also affected, with Amtrak suspending train services between New York and Boston as well as in Vermont and Maine.
New York City, where 1,700 ploughs and 450 salt spreaders were ready to be deployed as darkness fell, was expecting to see 10 to 14 inches of snow with accumulations of up to 19 inches on eastern Long Island.
From New Jersey to Maine, shoppers crowded into supermarkets and hardware stores throughout Friday to buy food, snow shovels, flashlights and generators, something that became a precious commodity after October’s superstorm Sandy. Schools in several states closed early so students could get home before the worst of the storm.
Connecticut’s emergency management agency warned on Twitter that “a wide ban of extremely heavy snow” was moving through the central and eastern parts of the State, dropping snow at a rate of up to five inches an hour.
Boston declared a snow emergency and shut down all public transit on Friday afternoon. City officials said 600 pieces of snow-clearing equipment and 34,000 tonnes of salt were ready for use.
Deval Patrick, governor of Massachusetts, banned all private vehicles from the state’s roads after 4pm. Cars were also banned in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Thousands of power outages were reported across the state.
As icy rain turned to snow over Manhattan on Friday afternoon, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg urged residents to leave work early and stock up on supplies such as medicine in the event of power failures. He warned that falling tree branches overloaded with snow could knock down power lines.
Mr Bloomberg said there was no need for panic-buying as “the gas supply is plentiful”. However, queues formed at filling stations as worried motorists filled up their cars.
Mr Bloomberg warned: “Stay off the city streets, stay out of your cars and stay in your homes while the worst of the storm is on us.”
The Long Island Power Authority, which came under intense criticism following its performance during Sandy, turned command of its storm response over to National Grid, the utility that provides power to hundreds of thousands of customers on Long Island.
New York City officials said that as of late January some 6,000 families were still waiting for repairs to heat, hot water or power systems in 3,000 buildings that had been damaged by Sandy. Mr Bloomberg said the city would find shelter for people living in unheated homes.
Residents of Brick Township, New Jersey, were asked to voluntarily evacuate on Friday from their homes in flood-prone areas that had been battered by October’s storm.
In Manhattan, Fashion Week was still going ahead – with extra help hired to remove snow – even as attendees were hard-pressed to find taxis and some high-profile guests were stranded in Europe after flights were cancelled.
Marc Jacobs postponed his show from Monday to Thursday citing “weather and production problems”, after fabric and accessories were not delivered to New York in time.
Five states – New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island – declared states of emergency on Friday as the storm approached along the New York to Boston corridor.
Word for the Day: One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity. – Albert Schweitzer
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