HEAVY SNOW AS WINTER STORM HITS US EAST COST - LIVE UPDATES
Tim McCarthy
- At least 18 dead as hundreds of thousands lose power
- NYC mayor defends decision to keep schools open
- ‘It is absolutely a beautiful day out there’ chancellor says
- No trash collection ‘in earnest’ in NYC until Tuesday
- Read the latest blog summary
Snow day
The US deep freeze continues. Yet another icy blast has hit the south and east, raining ice on Georgia and depositing obscene quantities of snow in the north. Cities in North Carolina are seized up and the national capital is largely shut down. We’re live blogging the latest as the snow continues to come down today.
Federal buildings in Washington have been shut down and the city’s two main airports are closed. Streets in the capital, and in New York, are practically deserted as commuters heeded warnings not to travel.
For the mid-Atlantic states and northeast, the heavy weather is the latest in a long series of storms that have depleted salt supplies and caused schools to run out of snow days.
In North Carolina, drivers got caught in monumental traffic jams and abandoned their cars Wednesday. Two weeks ago, a similar scene hit Atlanta, but people there seemed to have learned their lesson and stayed home.
There is a threshold at which inquiring about flight delays acquires a tinge of schadenfreude. Not all of us seeking this information can be considering flying or have loved ones who are.
In any case, it’s bad out there, with 5,104 flights cancelled in the United States today, so far, according to FlightAware. View the Misery Map, which displays proportions of flight delays and cancellations for each airport, here.
It’s not just the quantity of snow – it’s the speed at which it’s falling. “RIDIC” some are calling it.
Winter storm resources page
Our index of winter storm resources for the northeast is here. Click through to find emergency response news; information about power outages; transportation news; and weather forecasts.
Here’s how North Carolina governor Pat McCrory advised residents to stay home as the storm hit yesterday afternoon:
“Don’t put your stupid hat on at this point in time,” he said in a briefing quoted in the New York Times.
It appears, unfortunately, that many residents headed straight for the hatrack. Here are nine still frames from department of transportation traffic cameras in Raleigh on Wednesday:
At least 11 people have died from storm-related causes across the south and southeast, and hundreds of thousands remain without power, the Associated Press reports. In the northeast, meanwhile, it’s starting to get expensive for states to fight the weather:
Though the worst of the storm has largely passed for most in the South, some parts remained a world of ice-laden trees and driveways early Thursday. Hundreds of thousands are still without power, and 13 deaths were blamed on the weather.
At least 11 deaths across the region were blamed on the treacherous weather Wednesday, including three people who were killed when an ambulance careened off an icy Texas road and caught fire.
Ice combined with wind gusts up to 30 mph snapped tree limbs and power lines Wednesday. More than 200,000 homes and businesses lost electricity in Georgia, [NOTE: this number has been updated in other reports to 300,000] 130,000 in South Carolina and nearly 30,000 in Louisiana. Some people could be in the dark for days.
The constant spate of storms is taking a financial toll. The state of Massachusetts has already burned through its $43 million snow- and ice-fighting budget having spent about $75 million before Thursday’s storm even hit.
Updated
For your information: Here’s a Twitter list with the latest dispatches from governors of northeastern states, power companies, and forecasters.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo has scheduled a conference call to discuss emergency storm response for 10.30am ET – in 10 minutes. We’ll listen in and tell you what he says.
Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett has scheduled a briefing for 11am. Governor Dan Malloy of Connecticut held a briefing earlier this morning and has another one scheduled for 5pm. We are awaiting further information from governor Chris Christie in New Jersey, Lincoln Chafee in Rhode Island and Deval Patrick in Massachusetts.
“The storm is fully engaged in our region,” New York governor Andrew Cuomo says on a conference call. “The storm has brought a mix of everything – we have snow, we have sleet, we have rain, we have ice.”
“We anticipate a second cycle of snow after the rain,” Cuomo says. “The Hudson Valley is likely to see all snow.”
Cuomo declares a state of emergency for the mid-Hudson, Long Island, and New York City regions, to ease the emergency response. The state has seen minimal power outages so far, to just 500 homes, he says.
People are staying off roads and traffic is much lighter than usual, making the work of snow-clearing crews easier, he says. There is a winter storm warning in effect until 6am tomorrow.
The first two questions from reporters in governor Cuomo’s conference call are not about the storm.
“I guess there’s not a lot of news in the fact that it’s snowing,” Cuomo says. “I guess when you can look out the window and see, there’s not a lot of news in it.”
“On the salt situation, we have an adequate supply of salt,” Cuomo says. “The state has an adequate reserve... we haven’t heard of any salt shortages by local governments.
“Everything is fine on the salt front.”
Cuomo says New York City did not check with Albany about keeping public schools open today. “I don’t believe we are generally consulted by local governments on school closings.”
Updated
Cuomo explains what declaring a state of emergency does.
“It says take this seriously... if you get in the car... you could get stuck,” he says.
Howard Glaser, state director of operations, gets specific. Declaring a state of emergency, he says, allows the state to “utilize state resources to meet local needs.” This might mean using New York department of transportation plows on local roads or, as in the last big storm, giving 3,500 tons of state-owned salt to local governments.
The state of emergency declaration also allows the state to “waive things like procurement regulations,” Glaser says. The state can cut emergency contracts in real time, to get emergency tow trucks and plows on the road.
Updated
We’re hanging up on Cuomo and switching to New York City mayor Bill de Blasio’s news conference, scheduled to begin momentarily (although, given de Blasio’s chronic tardiness, there probably is time to let Cuomo finish).
De Blasio is likely to get questions about his decision to keep the schools open as a foot of snow falls on the city.
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/13/snow-us-winter-storm-live-updates/print
I'm very solidarity with for this hard winter in USA.
Hold on, guys !