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WASHINGTON — Major cities, roadways and airports along the East Coast were largely immobilized Saturday by a massive and deadly snowstorm that showed no signs of letting up.
WASHINGTON — Major cities, roadways and airports along the East Coast were largely immobilized Saturday by a massive and deadly snowstorm that showed no signs of letting up.
Public transportation in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., was shut down as local officials called on residents to hunker down and stay off the streets for a second day.
As of early Saturday, more than 60 million people were under blizzard, winter storm or freezing rain warnings. The storm's effects stretched from Georgia to Massachusetts, according to Weather.com.
Air traffic ground to a halt across much of East Coast, with more than 8,300 flights canceled nationwide by Saturday morning. Underscoring the severity of the storm, all flights were halted Saturday at four of the nation’s busiest airports: Philadelphia, Washington Dulles, Washington Reagan National and Baltimore/Washington International.At least nine people died in storm-related crashes in Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina and Virginia, the Associated Press reported. In Virginia alone, nearly 1,000 car crashes were reported by late Friday.
Eleven states from Georgia to New York had declared states of emergency, CNN reported.
“Now is the time for Marylanders to stay at home and off the roads,” said Maryland governor Larry Hogan. “This is the safe choice. It will also allow emergency services vehicles to maneuver and road crews to begin the long process of clearing highways and streets."Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake ordered cars without chains or snow tires to stay off the streets to avoid creating problems for snow removal, The Baltimore Sun reportedvThe heaviest snow was continuing to fall across Maryland and Delaware on Saturday morning, but will shift toward southern New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and southeast Massachusetts by the afternoon and evening, the National Weather Service said.
The top snowfall total from the storm so far is 28 inches in Terra Alta, West Virginia, as of early Saturday morning, Weather.com reported.
On Capitol Hill in Washington, few people were out on the streets as snow swirled and gusts of winds blew. Many locations across Maryland and Washington D.C. already topped 1 foot, with more on the way. An additional 8 to 15 inches is forecast along the D.C. to Long Island corridor.In Delaware, Gov. Jack Markell banned all but essential personnel from driving on the roadways in Kent and New Castle counties. "With so much snow accumulating on our roads, conditions are becoming dangerous for any more traffic than absolutely necessary," Markell said Saturday, The News-Journal reported.
Along the Delaware and New Jersey coasts, icy floodwaters pushed inland by the storm were surging into neighborhoods.
In New York City, the usually busy streets on the Upper West Side and Upper East Side of Manhattan were largely empty Friday night. Those who braved the elements were bundled in thick jackets and pulled hoods over their heads against the biting cold.
Outside the cities, travelers were not faring much better, as thousands of accidents were reported..Virginia State Police reported 989 car crashes statewide by late Friday and had assisted nearly 800 disabled vehicles, said Ken Schrad, spokesman for the Virginia State Police Joint Information Center.
At least one lane of the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Somerset, Pa., was shut down, with some travelers reporting they were stranded for at least 10 hours into Saturday.
Large portions of Interstate-75 in Kentucky were in gridlock with a six-mile backup at one point because of wreckage, AP reported. State trooper Kendra Wilson told CNNon Saturday morning that some people had been trapped on the highway for more than 12 hours.
The National Guard and the Laurel County Fire Department were trying to clear roadways using a wrecker, WKYT-TV reported. Several tractor trailers were among the vehicles abandoned.
Mike Edmonds was stuck at a truck stop in Kentucky on Friday as snow piled up around him, not daring to venture his big rig out of the slick parking lot and onto an interstate strewn with wrecked vehicles, he told the AP by phone.
"We've got trucks here that literally cannot get out," Edmonds said. "We're spinning. It's not worth even getting out on the road."The storm is expected to taper off by Sunday but the aftermath will likely cause havoc for travelers into Monday. The storm could easily cause more than $1 billion in damage, weather service director Louis Uccellini said.
In all, 82 million Americans will get at least an inch of snow, 47 million more than 6 inches, and 22 million Americans more than a foot, Ryan Maue at WeatherBell Analytics said Friday.
All of the precipitation associated the storm should move off the Atlantic coast before sunrise Sunday, leaving clearing skies for the day, Weather.com reported.
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