ABC Online :
A massive blizzard that claimed at least 19 lives in the eastern United States finally appears to be winding down, giving snowbound residents the chance to begin digging out.
The near-record snowstorm clobbered the US on Friday and Saturday (local time), shutting down New York and Washington and impacting some 85 million residents.
More than 4,400 flights were cancelled as the mega-storm dubbed “Snowzilla” brought airports in New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore to a halt, shut down transport in the US capital and prompted New York officials to issue a sweeping travel ban.
Thirteen people were killed in weather-related car crashes in Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia on Saturday. One person died in Maryland and three in New York City while shovelling snow. Two died of hypothermia in Virginia, officials said. More than 200,000 people were left without power and 2,200 National Guard personnel were also drafted in.
State Governor Andrew Cuomo closed all roads in the city, America’s financial and entertainment capital home to 8.4 million, Long Island, and bridges and tunnels west to New Jersey.
“Safety is our number one priority,” Mr Cuomo said.
“We’re trying to get ahead of it with the clean-up crew. And then we’ll see what Mother Nature has in store for us as we go on.”
Bus services were suspended at noon (local time), and overland commuter and subway trains in and out of Manhattan were shut from 4:00pm as Broadway cancelled performances, museums closed and shops closed.
Metro and bus networks were shut down in Washington for the entire weekend, and largely shut in Philadelphia and New Jersey on Saturday. “You never like to disrupt transportation and commerce. However, the storm was fast and furious,” said New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo.
“This is a storm that is nothing to be trifled with.” Strong winds are causing coastal flooding concerns for a large portion of the East Coast, the National Weather Forecast (NWS) warned, with streets in some New Jersey towns filled with water and ice.
Ploughs struggled to clear New York streets, where parked cars were buried under the snow and visibility deteriorated as night fell. More than 50 centimetres of snow fell in parts of Brooklyn and at the city’s La Guardia and John F. Kennedy airports.
In Washington with billowing winds creating massive snow drifts. Reagan National and Dulles International airports were expected to remain closed through Sunday.
“We know that it is very rough outside, and in some cases, there have been reports of whiteout conditions for the past two hours. Visibility is extremely poor,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said.
“The forecast suggests that the snow will wrap up late tonight or in the very early hours of this morning. But it doesn’t make it any less dangerous.”
But one resident of the capital is lapping up the blizzard – Tian Tian, a panda at the National Zoo. Footage of him playing outside quickly went viral.
The NWS put a blizzard warning into effect for a large swath of the eastern US as officials warned the storm could cause more than $1 billion in damage.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican presidential contender, left the campaign trail to oversee the emergency response in his snowbound state.
“For folks who lose power, please, given how cold the weather is, try to go and shelter in the home of a friend or family member if you can. Don’t stay in the cold,” he said.
The NWS reported that New York could see up to 64 centimetres of snow and that travel was extremely dangerous “due to heavy snowfall and strong winds with whiteout conditions likely”.
Mayor Bill de Blasio warned that more than 50 centimetres would put the storm in the top five in terms of accumulation since records began in the 19th century.
The record high of 71 centimetres of snow in Washington was set in 1922, in which 100 people were killed, and the biggest recent snowfall was 45 centimetres in 2010.
The national monuments, Capitol building and Smithsonian museums were all closed.
Even a massive snowball fight in Washington’s Dupont Circle, which 3,000 people said on Facebook they would attend, was postponed until Sunday due to the storm’s ferocity.
Snow and sleet also hit the southern states of Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia – unusual for the region.
Six people were killed in road accidents in North Carolina, three people died after shovelling snow in New York, and deaths were also reported in Arkansas, Kentucky, Maryland and Virginia, officials said.
