A powerful storm caused chaos on the US east coast, leading to the cancellation of hundreds of flights, the closure of schools and the postponement of anti-Covid vaccinations, as New York prepared for one of the heaviest snowfall in its history. From Washington to Boston, from Pennsylvania to Maine, tens of millions of inhabitants had been placed on alert in the face of this snowy episode accompanied by squalls of up to 80 km / h.
At 7 p.m. local time on Monday, the snow cover had reached more than 41 cm in Central Park, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Further snowfall is expected over the northeastern region on Tuesday, with conditions close to blizzard, the NWS tweeted. “It should be one of the biggest snowfalls in New York City,” Matthew Wunsch, a forecaster with the NWS, told Agence France-Presse.
Local state of emergency declared
According to data collected since 1869 in Central Park, a layer of more than 50 cm in total would rise in the eight snowiest episodes recorded in New York. The record dates from January 2016, with nearly 70 cm fallen in three days. Some spoke of the great historical blizzard of March 1888: the city, taken by surprise in early spring, had then deplored dozens of deaths and considerable material damage.
In an American economic capital already slowed down by the pandemic, the mayor, Bill de Blasio, declared a local state of emergency in order to facilitate the maneuvers of the clearing machines, omnipresent on the main roads. It closed until Tuesday including schools that remained open despite the pandemic – mainly preschools and elementary schools – returning all students to online education.
Closed vaccination centers
While many workers have been working from home for months, the 8 million residents have been urged to stay at home. Spreaders and snowplows roamed the streets of New York, already quieter than usual due to the pandemic. The anti-Covid-19 vaccination centers, which operate only by appointment – very difficult to get hold of due to the lack of sufficient vaccines – were also closed until Tuesday included. “At this rate of snowfall, snowplows cannot keep up,” New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo warned, noting that the situation was “dangerous”.
Most of the commuter trains serving New York and the skytrain sections stopped running on Monday afternoon. “If you’re not an essential worker, you don’t have to be outside,” the governor added, warning motorists that they risk getting stuck on impassable roads.
The situation “will get worse before it gets better”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has also declared a state of emergency, giving authorities the ability to close roads, evacuate homes and bring in equipment needed for public safety. Six major vaccination centers will also remain closed on Tuesday. The situation “will get worse before it gets better,” the governor tweeted.
Almost all of the flights to or from the three airports serving the region, John F. Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark, have been canceled, one of their officials, Rick Cotton, said. In Boston, half of the flights scheduled to take off on Monday have been canceled, according to the Flight Aware website. Across the country, more than 1,600 flights were canceled Monday at midday.
Accidents and miscellaneous facts due to snow
The federal capital Washington, where the snow had arrived on Sunday, postponed the return to school scheduled for Tuesday for thousands of schoolchildren, after almost a year of interruption due to the pandemic. As Democrats and Republicans negotiated a new economic stimulus package, Congress slowed down, and President Joe Biden postponed a scheduled visit to the State Department.
No doubt due to the activity slowed down by the coronavirus, no serious accident in the metropolises concerned was immediately reported. But in the suburb of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, a couple in their fifties was shot dead by their neighbor after “an altercation over snow clearing” in front of their house, Dale Binker, chief told Agence France-Presse. Plains Township Police Department. The shooter took his own life as police arrived to arrest him, he added.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
