Blizzard paralyses US Northeast travel, impacts 54 million Americans
Washington, Feb 23 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) A powerful winter storm barrelled into the US Northeast triggering travel bans, shutting schools, and grounding thousands of flights as heavy snow and strong winds lashed major cities from Washington to Boston.
The National Weather Service warned of a “Major Winter Storm for the Northeast” and said heavy snow would hit the northern Mid-Atlantic and Northeast through Monday. Snowfall rates of two to three inches per hour were expected at times, with totals as high as two feet in some areas, creating “nearly impossible travel conditions”.
Blizzard warnings were issued across large parts of the region. The Weather Channel reported that the National Weather Service in New York City was calling it “a potentially historic blizzard”.
New York City imposed a travel ban from 9 p.m. Sunday through Monday at noon. Mayor Zoharan Mamdani said: “New York City has not faced a storm of this scale in the last decade. We are asking New Yorkers to avoid all nonessential travel”. City schools will be closed on Monday, their first “old-school snow day” since 2019.
New Jersey officials also ordered a travel ban beginning at 9 p.m., while Rhode Island urged residents to stay off roads from 7 p.m., according to reports. Several states declared emergencies as the storm intensified.
Air travel was severely disrupted. The Wall Street Journal reported that airlines cancelled almost 8,000 flights for Sunday and Monday, primarily in Boston and New York. At New York’s LaGuardia and JFK airports, nearly half of Sunday’s flights were cancelled. The New York Times said more than 3,500 domestic and international flights had been cancelled by Sunday afternoon, with Kennedy and LaGuardia among the hardest hit.
Boston and much of eastern Massachusetts were forecast to see up to two feet of snow, with wind gusts of up to 75 miles per hour. The Weather Service in Boston described it as a “potentially historic and destructive storm”.
In Washington, D.C., several inches of wet snow were forecast. Federal agencies announced a two-hour delay, while many area schools opted for closures or delayed openings.
Forecasters warned that strong onshore winds could cause coastal flooding from Delaware to Cape Cod. The Weather Service cautioned that flooding could become severe enough to cause structural damage and widespread roadway inundation.
Nearly 54 million people were in the storm’s path from the central Appalachians to coastal Maine, facing winter storm or blizzard warnings.
The storm is expected to depart northern New England by Tuesday morning.
