Snowstorm Jonas: US East Coast battered by deadly blizzard

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Snowstorm Jonas: US East Coast battered by deadly blizzard

"This is not a day you want to spend outside, because it's snowing very heavily. There are very, very strong winds."

NEW YORK: -- A mere six weeks ago, people were milling around New York in t-shirts and thin jackets – the weather exceptionally warm for the time of year. Now the East Coast of the US is being battered by a massive blizzard, which has claimed the lives of at least 19 people.

The Big Apple joins Washington and other cities in being brought to a standstill by Snowstorm Jonas.

Eleven states have declared states of emergency, with between half a metre and 1.20 metres of snow expected in some areas, meteorologists say.

Weather-related car crashed have killed at least 13 people in Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia, Reuters news agency reports. One person was killed in Maryland, three others in New York while shovelling snow and two people in Virginia died of hypothermia, officials said.

Euronews’ correspondent in Washington, Stefan Grobe, sent this report from the capital:

“So, I can tell you that this is not a day you want to spend outside, because it’s snowing very heavily. There are very, very strong winds. Snow is piling up for 24 hours and we are expecting more snow for at least 12 more hours. So, it’s pretty uncomfortable if you have to be outside.

I just got back from walking outside in my neighborhood. I live in the Capitol Hill east neighborhood of Washington. It normally takes me 20-25 minutes on foot to go to the capital. Now, today we were out and after an hour we decided to return because the weather was so bad and walking through the snow was so bad and we were still five or six blocks away from the Capitol.”

-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-01-25

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Super Snowstorm keeps US east coast in its icy grip



"it will be a memory for the books, that is for sure"

NEW YORK: -- The big freeze continues on the US east coast and in the city that never sleeps snow ploughs and snowmen have become a regular feature.

New York’s near record snowfall meant Broadway shows were cancelled on Saturday but that didn’t bring down the curtain on good humour in the heart of Manhattan.

“Once in a lifetime I guess,” said one man, amid the snow.
“Yeah, it will be a memory for the books, that is for sure,” his companion added.

“It is magical. It is a city known around the world and to see it like this makes the weekend even more special,” said the French-speaking female half of another couple, enjoying the big freeze downtown.

A review of travel restrictions was due on Sunday by city authorities.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio had already warned people to stay off the city’s streets.

“This is a forecast that in the last 24 hours has jumped up several times and (is) now as high as 28 inches. Again from the point of view of this city, we have to prepare for an even worse case scenario than that and be ready if it goes even farther,” de Blasio said.

In the capital, The Washington Post called this “A blizzard for the ages” and said authorities had warned that it “would take days” before all roads become passable.

With thousands of flights cancelled, it will take time too before air travel on the east coast returns to normal.

But the impact of this storm will remain for many families – with at least 19 people reported dead in several states.


-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-01-25

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Sunshine and blue skies follow blizzard, but dangers remain
By VERENA DOBNIK and BEN NUCKOLS

NEW YORK (AP) — Brilliant sunshine and gently rising temperatures followed the mammoth blizzard that paralyzed Washington and set a single-day snowfall record in New York City, enabling millions to dig out Sunday and enjoy the winter.

The timing could not have been better: Most people stayed home as the heaviest snow fell Friday evening and all day Saturday, enabling crews to clear roads and rails, then awoke Sunday to see grimy cities blanketed in lovely but unfamiliar terrains.

It was just right for a huge snowball fight in Baltimore, where more than 600 people responded to organizer Aaron Brazell's invite on Facebook.

"I knew people would be cooped up in their houses and wanting to come outside," said Brazell, who was beaned by multiple blasts of perfectly soft but firm snow.

But treacherous conditions remained: Waist-high piles of plowed snow blocked Manhattan bus stops, forcing riders to risk waiting on streets, inches from traffic. Judy Tenenbaum refused, and walked a dozen blocks to reach a stop where at least some snow was cleared.

"I decided, I don't want to die," she said, boarding a bus to the YMCA.

At least 28 deaths were blamed on the weather, first in car crashes, and then while shoveling snow or breathing carbon monoxide.

The storm dropped snow from the Gulf Coast to New England. The heaviest official report was 42 inches, in Glengary, West Virginia, but huge accumulations elsewhere stranded tens of thousands of travelers and forced countless others to change plans.

Broadway shows reopened on the Great White Way Sunday after going dark at the last minute during the snowstorm, but Bruce Springsteen called off his Sunday concert at Madison Square Garden. Museums remained closed in Washington, and the House of Representatives postponed votes until February, citing the storm's impact on travel.

Flying remained particularly messy after nearly 12,000 weekend flights were canceled. Airports resumed very limited service in New York City, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, which said it got an entire winter's snow in two days. Washington-area airports remained closed Sunday after the punishing blizzard.

Major airlines also canceled hundreds of flights for Monday. Along with clearing snow and ice from facilities and equipment, the operators of airlines, train and transit systems had to figure out how to get snowbound employees to work.

Amtrak operated a reduced number of trains on all its routes, serving many people who couldn't get around otherwise, spokesman Marc Magliari said. But bus and rail service was expected to be limited around the region into Monday, making for a complicated commute.

As a sign of how much digging out remains to be done around the nation's capital, public schools will be closed Monday and Tuesday in suburban Montgomery County, Maryland, which recorded some of the highest snow totals, including 38.5 inches in North Potomac.

Still, with 30 hours or more to restore power and clear streets after the last flakes fell, millions were expected to slog back to work.

The storm dropped 26.8 inches in Central Park, the second-most recorded since 1869 and just short of 26.9 inches set in February 2006. But the 26.6 inches that fell on Saturday was the city's record for a single day.

It appears to be Baltimore's biggest single snowstorm, with a preliminary total of 29.2 inches at the city's airport topping its previous record of 26.8 inches during the "Presidents Day Storm" of 2003.

Washington's records were less clear. The official 3-day total of 17.8 inches measured at Reagan National Airport was impossibly short of accumulations recorded elsewhere in the city. An official total of 22.4 inches landed at the National Zoo, but since some of that fell Friday night, it might not have beat the city's single-day record of 21 inches, set on Jan. 28, 1922.

The Zoo was making hearts sing in other ways — even though the grounds remained closed through Monday, an online video of its giant panda Tian Tian making snow angels got more than 48 million views.

Joining the fun, Jeffrey Perez got more than half a million views of his own online video, after climbing into a panda suit and rolling around in the snow outside his home in Millersville, Maryland.

Watching her young daughters frolic in the snow in Toms River, N.J., Mary Desmond joked that they had made it through the storm "without killing any one." ''With little ones the cabin fever is really strong," she laughed.

Coastal cities saw flooding but no significant damage. Many deaths had more to do with human nature than Mother Nature.

In Passaic, N.J., on Sunday, a mother and year-old son watching their family shovel snow from the apparent safety of their car died because snow blocked the tailpipe; her 3-year-old daughter was in critical condition, The Record reported.

David Perrotto, 56, met a similar fate in Muhlenberg Township, Pennsylvania, after a snowplow buried him inside the car he was trying to dig out Saturday night. An elderly couple in Greenville, South Carolina, who lost power were poisoned by a gas-powered generator in their garage.

And in North Carolina, an intoxicated man whose car spun out and got stuck in the snow shot and killed a man who tried to help him, Catawba County Sheriff Coy Reid said.

The storm delivered bursts of thunder and lightning and winds that reached a hurricane-force 75 mph at Dewey Beach, Delaware, and Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, the National Weather Service said. From Virginia to New York, sustained winds topped 30 mph and gusted to around 50 mph.

Roofs collapsed on a church in Pennsylvania and a historic theater in Virginia, causing no injuries. The roof also fell in on a barn outside Frederick, Maryland, which got 33.5 inches of snow, killing cows a farmer had herded inside.

"It kills me because I killed them by putting them in the barn," Douglas Fink said. "I was trying to protect them, but they probably would have been better off just standing outside."
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Nuckols reported from Burke, Virginia. Contributors include Associated Press writers Bruce Shipkowski in Toms River, New Jersey; William Mathis, Scott Mayerowitz and Jake Pearson in New York; Alex Brandon and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington; Jessica Gresko in Arlington, Virginia; and Juliet Linderman in Baltimore.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-01-25

[khwaibah]

Springfield Virginia. Taken about 6 hours ago. This is outside of DC. Btw its infront of my sister home and the wife is jumping up and down she wants to go..I said by yourself.

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At least 29 killed in snowstorm-related deaths
By The Associated Press

At least 29 people have died as a result of the mammoth snowstorm that pounded the eastern U.S. The deaths occurred in car accidents, from carbon monoxide poisoning, and from heart attacks while shoveling snow:

WASHINGTON

—An 82-year-old man who died after going into cardiac arrest while shoveling snow in front of his home in Washington is the first person whose death is related to the snowstorm in the city.

The District of Columbia's Chief Medical Examiner, Roger A. Mitchell Jr., announced the man's death during a news conference Sunday evening.


Mitchell did not release the man's name or say when he died or where in the city he lived. He encouraged people shoveling to take breaks and make sure that they keep hydrated.

DELAWARE

— A U.S. Capitol Police officer died of a heart attack after shoveling snow at his home in Delaware. Nicole Alston says her husband, 44-year-old Officer Vernon Alston, collapsed Saturday afternoon outside their home in Magnolia after he'd been shoveling snow for about an hour. She says he died within seconds. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Alston's death on Sunday, calling him "a fixture on the Capitol grounds." Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine says in a statement that Alston was a 20-year veteran of the force.

KENTUCKY

— A Kentucky transportation worker died Saturday while plowing snow-covered highways, officials said. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet identified him in a statement as Christopher Adams. The statement says Adams called a supervisor about 5:50 a.m., saying his plow slid into a ditch. When the supervisor arrived, Adams was slumped over, unresponsive in his seat. A cause of death has not been released.

— A man died in southeastern Kentucky when his car collided with a salt truck Thursday, state police said. Billy R. Stevens, 59, of Williamsburg was pronounced dead at the scene on state Route 92 in Whitley County.

MARYLAND

— Two people have died from heart attacks while shoveling snow in Maryland. A 49-year-old man suffered cardiac arrest while shoveling in Abingdon on Saturday, County Executive Barry Glassman said Sunday. Officials in Prince George's County said a man collapsed and died Saturday while shoveling snow in Fort Washington. Bob Maloney, director of Baltimore's office of emergency management, said not one life was lost due to the storm in the city.

NEW JERSEY

— A 23-year-old New Jersey mom and her year-old son died of carbon monoxide poisoning while sitting in a running car that had its tailpipe covered in snow, The Record reported, citing Passaic police. The woman's 3-year-old daughter was also hurt and was hospitalized in "very critical condition," police said. Authorities believe they were watching other family members shovel snow and didn't realize what was happening.

NEW YORK

— Three people died while shoveling snow in New York City, police said. The New York Police Department's Chief of Department Jim O'Neill told reporters Saturday one person on Staten Island and two people in Queens died. He released no further details on the deaths. A police spokesman said the medical examiner's office will determine exactly how they died.

NORTH CAROLINA

— Six people have died in car accidents during the storm, authorities have said, including a 4-year-old boy who died Friday afternoon after the pickup truck carrying his family on Interstate 77 near Troutman spun out of control and crashed.

OHIO

— A teenager sledding behind an all-terrain vehicle was hit by a truck and killed Friday, the State Highway Patrol said. The truck failed to yield at a traffic light and hit the sled, which the ATV was pulling in Wheelersburg, the highway patrol said.

PENNSYLVANIA

— Authorities in eastern Pennsylvania say a man died of carbon monoxide poisoning, apparently after his car was buried in snow by a passing plow. David Perrotto, 56, was pronounced dead less than an hour after he was found Saturday night in Muhlenberg Township, according to John Hollenbach of the Berks County coroner's office. Hollenbach says Perrotto was apparently trying to dig out his car. Investigators believe he either was in the car with the motor running to take a break or to try to get out of the space when a snow plow went by and buried the car, blocking the exhaust and preventing him from exiting. Another person trying to dig out their vehicle found the running car. Perrotto was pronounced dead at a hospital emergency room.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Three people have died in South Carolina:

— Authorities say an elderly couple in Greenville died of probable carbon monoxide poisoning. Ruby Bell, 86, and her husband, 87-year-old Robert Bell, were found dead at home by their son over the weekend, Greenville County Coroner Parks Evans said in an email. He said the time of death was believed to be Friday night. Russell Watson, the Duncan Chapel Fire District chief, told The Greenville News that the couple had lost power during the storm and a relative had set up a generator in their garage. Watson said the relative left the garage door propped open with a ladder, but it somehow closed and the generator filled the house with carbon monoxide.

— The South Carolina Highway Patrol says a 44-year-old man was killed after being struck by a vehicle that slid out of control after hitting a patch of ice. The crash happened Saturday afternoon in Greenville County, the highway patrol said in a news release.

TENNESSEE

— A car slid off the roadway due to speed and slick conditions, killing the driver and injuring a passenger, the Knox County sheriff's department said.

— A couple in a vehicle slid off an icy road and plummeted down a 300-foot embankment Wednesday night, killing the woman who was driving, said Carter County Sheriff Dexter Lunceford. Stacy Sherrill's husband, a passenger in the car, survived the crash. It took him several hours to climb the embankment and report the accident.

VIRGINIA

— The number of storm-related deaths in Virginia has risen to five. A man was killed on Saturday in a single-vehicle crash in Virginia Beach that police blamed on speed and icy road conditions, and Virginia Tech filmmaker Jerry Scheeler died Friday while shoveling snow outside his new house in Daleville, local news media reported Sunday. On Saturday, the state medical examiner's office confirmed three other storm deaths. They included a single-vehicle crash in Chesapeake and deaths in Hampton and southwest Virginia from hypothermia.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-01-25