by Jo Biddle

Battered US east coast digs out, more snow coming

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Hundreds of emergency crews battled to clear snow-clogged roads and restore power to thousands of homes across the US east coast before a new storm hits.

An early morning freeze, which had turned partially cleared highways into icy skating rinks, gave way to warmer temperatures helping the big melt to get under way, but officials warned travel was still hazardous.

“This is really challenging for us, and will continue to be a challenge for most of the week,” said Laura Southard from the Virginia emergency management center, noting that another storm is due to hit the mid-Atlantic region late Tuesday.

With record snowfall of more than three feet (a meter) in many places after a monster blizzard swept across Virginia, Maryland and the US federal capital city, bulldozers were having to move in.

“This snow is so deep and so heavy that the traditional snow plowscan’t shovel in some areas. So bulldozers are physically having to lift it up and away,” Southard told AFP.

The record snowfall for a storm dubbed “Snowmageddon” was registered in a small town of Colesville, central Maryland, which was blanketed by 40 inches (101 centimeters), the National Weather Center said.

Virginia police had turned out to more than 4,370 calls, with most being traffic crashes or stranded cars. It is believed only three people died though as a result of the storm.

“Progress is being made, but it’s going to take a couple more days at least, but even then we can’t make any promises,” Southard added.

Hundreds of thousands of people spent a chilly night with candles and hunkered under blankets without power, although crews working round-the-clock did manage to restore electricity to many homes.

But by early Sunday more than 200,000 power outages in Virginia and Maryland had yet to be repaired amid fears it could take several days to reach all affected homes and businesses.

Many residents across the region were beginning to try to dig out cars, and clear paths, while officials warned not to let children play in the huge piles left by snow plows in case drivers failed to spot them.

In another sign that life was beginning to get back to normal after the nation’s capital was crippled by the monster storm, some stores and coffee shops were beginning to gradually reopen after a rare shutdown.

Transportation systems from the capital’s outlying suburbs remained snapped, with no overground metro trains running and no buses.

Reagan domestic airport was still closed Sunday, and there was little likelihood of flights out of the international airports at Baltimore, or Dulles, bogged down by a record 32.4 inches (82 centimeters) of snow.

Schools were to remain closed on Monday and Tuesday across most of the region as were local government offices across a swath of northern Virginia, at least on Monday.

In a further blow, officials urged sports fans against going to Super Bowl parties later Sunday — an annual highlight of the social calendar when friends gather to cheer on teams for the finale of the American Football season.

“Traditionally it’s a really big day, Super Bowl Sunday, but I would encourage people to stay home,” said Ed McDonough, spokesman for the Maryland emergency management center.

“It is still well below freezing. A little sun and some sand will help, but we are not going to get a lot of melt. There’s another storm going and we’re not going to be out of the woods for a while.”

It was the second massive storm to hit the region after a December storm dumped some two feet of snow in the area.

And forecasters warned yet another front was moving across from the west coast, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a winter storm watch around the capital from Tuesday afternoon until Wednesday afternoon. Related article: Monster US storm boon for forecasters: expert

“We are getting a lot of winter fatigue around here now,” McDonough told AFP ruefully, as he pulled up outside his snow-bound driveway after a 24-hour shift.

Metro still limited, but so is everything else

School systems, most governments shut Monday; another storm looks to be on the way

AP

‘Snowmageddon,’ as Obama called it, led to thousands of wrecks, toppled trees and about a half-million people were left in the dark and cold.

WASHINGTON – Skiers lapped the Reflecting Pool along the National Mall; others used the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a slope. Hundreds crowded Dupont Circle for a snowball fight organized online, while elsewhere the capital’s famed avenues were all but desolate.

Washington took on a surreal, almost magical feel as it was buried under nearly 2 feet of snow Saturday in one of the worst blizzards in the city’s history. The nearly 18 inches recorded at Reagan National Airport was the fourth-highest storm total for the city. At nearby Dulles International Airport, the record was shattered with 32 inches.

“Right now it’s like the Epcot Center version of Washington,” said Mary Lord, 56, a D.C. resident for some 30 years who had skied around the city.

WINTER TRAVEL CENTER: Information to know before braving the storm

“Snowmageddon,” President Barack Obama called it. And even the president’s motorcade — which featured SUVs instead of limousines — fell victim as a tree limb snapped and crashed onto a motorcade vehicle carrying press. No one was injured.

From Pennsylvania to New Jersey, south to Virginia, the region was under at least 2 feet of snow. Parts of northern Maryland had 3 feet.

And while the storm created serious inconveniences for many who were without power and faced with digging out, the monuments at Washington’s heart seemed even more stately and serene.

At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, soldiers’ names were buried 16 rows deep, while higher up snow had settled into the letters so they stood out against the black background. The wreaths of the World War II Memorial looked like giant white-frosted doughnuts. The big attraction at the Lincoln Memorial was not the nation’s 16th president, but rather a snowman with eyes of copper pennies bearing Lincoln’s likeness.

Obama, a snow veteran from his days in Chicago, spoke at the Democratic National Committee winter meeting and thanked those for being “willing to brave a blizzard. Snowmageddon here in D.C.”

But after that, the president went inside, hunkering down in the White House.

The snow fell too quickly for crews to keep up, and officials begged residents to stay home. The hope was everyone could return to work on Monday.

The usually traffic-snarled roads were mostly barren, save for some snow plows, fire trucks, ambulances and a few SUVs. People walked down the middle of New York Avenue near the Verizon Center without fear of being hit. The Wizards game to be played there had been canceled.

The Capital Beltway, always filled with cars, was empty at times. Metro, the area’s rail system, shut down by 11 p.m., partly because of so-few riders.

“Our car is stuck. We’re not even trying,” said Tihana Blanc who was walking her dog in northwest Washington.

Philadelphia, the nation’s sixth-largest city, was virtually shut down with a record of nearly 27 inches. The Philadelphia International Auto Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center downtown was a ghost town.

“Last year when I came, there was a line getting in,” said Walt Gursky, 28. “Much more relaxing in here — you can actually see what you want.”

Carolyn Matuska loved the quiet during her morning run along Washington’s National Mall.

“Oh, it’s spectacular out,” she said. “It’s so beautiful. The temperature’s perfect, it’s quiet, there’s nobody out, it’s a beautiful day.”

The ugly side of the snow led to thousands of wrecks. Trees toppled and about a half-million people were left in the dark and cold. Still, only two people had died — a father-and-son team who were killed trying to help someone stuck on a highway in Virginia.

Heavy, wet snow collapsed several roofs including at Joshua Temple Church Ministry and a private jet hangar at Dulles International Airport.

People tried to dig out the best they could, though the constant snow made it difficult. As Christine Benkoski in Ellicott City, Md., tried to clear her driveway, she said she uncovered how the storm had gone from snow, to ice, then back to snow.

“I feel like an archaeologist,” said Benkoski. “I’ve been out here for an hour, and my only goal is to get to the street.”

Shawn Punga and his wife, Kristine, of Silver Spring, Md., went to a hotel because they lost power and were concerned for their 2-year-old daughter, Ryder, who was bundled up in thick pink pajamas and slippers.

“I have just been watching the thermostat,” he said. They left the house when it hit 60 degrees.
Trouble for some was business for others.

Angel Martinez and a small crew of contractors shoveled morning and night and plowed streets and walkways of a Silver Spring subdivision.

“Usually there is not a lot of work this time of year, so when I get the call I’m happy for the opportunity to work,” said Martinez, 24, of Gaithersburg. “But today there was too much.”

The snow comes less than two months after a Dec. 19 storm dumped more than 16 inches on Washington. According to the National Weather Service, Washington has gotten more than a foot of snow only 13 times since 1870.

The heaviest on record was 28 inches in January 1922. The biggest snowfall for the Washington-Baltimore area is believed to have been in 1772, before official records were kept, when as much as 3 feet fell, which George Washington and Thomas Jefferson penned in their diaries.