Snowstorm blocks cars and delays flights in eastern US and Canada

A winter snowstorm approaching from the east coast of the United States towards Canada on Monday (17) is expected to leave more than 60 cm of snow in some areas, preventing the passage of planes and cars. .

More than 4,200 flights in the United States were canceled or delayed as of Monday, according to FlightAware. Nearly 90,000 homes and businesses between Georgia and Maine had no electricity, according to PowerOutage.US.

Traffic became congested in Toronto, Canada, as the snowstorm brought visibility to near zero, closed subway lines and left drivers stranded on local roads for hours.

Buses were stopped and passing pedestrians helped push cars onto a street on the main urban transport route in downtown Toronto. The region was predicted to get up to 2 feet of snow, and an extreme weather warning was in effect. Authorities urged residents to stay off the roads.

In neighboring Quebec, the weather caused traffic accidents, including pile-ups involving dozens of vehicles that forced authorities to close some highways, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC).

In the eastern United States, officials also urged residents to stay away from snow-covered roads on the holiday in honor of murdered civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.

Ashtabula, Ohio, on Lake Erie, recorded 68 cm of snow, according to the National Weather Service, while parts of New York state, Pennsylvania and North Carolina received more than 50 cm.

Atlanta saw its first snowstorm in four years, according to the NWS, and some regions of North Carolina had record snowfalls.

As the storm swept north, northern Maine and New Hampshire were still expected to have an extra 5 to 10 cm of ice and snow on Monday night, the weather service said. Stormy conditions were forecast across much of the region on Tuesday.