US blizzard disrupts travellers, workers

8 Feb 2010, 7:58 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Scores of workers in America's Mid-Atlantic region have been given a day off to shovel out from a blizzard that buried some areas in almost a metre of snow.

Scores of workers in America's snowy Mid-Atlantic region have been given a day off to shovel out from a blizzard that buried some areas in almost a metre of snow as another, smaller storm loomed.

While the weekend winter blast offered prime sledding and snowball-hurling for many, stranded travellers and those struggling with no electricity wondered when they'd escape the icy, grey mess.

Federal agencies that employ 230,000 in Washington will be closed on Monday, as will many businesses and school districts across the region.

Crews ploughing streets and homeowners shovelling their footpaths faced the possibility of another storm adding to the work.

The National Weather Service issued a storm watch for the Washington area on Tuesday, saying there was potential for another 12cm or more of snow.

Forecasters expect highs around freezing for the next few days, though sunshine on Monday should help melt some of the snow, said weather service meteorologist Bryan Jackson.

The sight of cross-country skiers cascading down monument steps and flying snowballs has since given way to images of people hunched over snow shovels or huddled next to fireplaces.

John and Nicole Ibrahim and their two-year-old son, Joshua, have been without power at their suburban Washington home in Silver Spring, Maryland, since overnight on Friday. They were among hundreds of thousands without electricity across the region, and utilities warned it could be days before electricity is restored to everyone.

"We were all bundled up in the same bed together and (Joshua) was coughing in his sleep and his heart was racing, and we worried he might be getting pneumonia," Nicole Ibrahim said.

The National Weather Service called the storm "historic" and reported 30cm of snow in parts of Ohio and 60cm or more in Washington, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Parts of Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia got closer to 90cm.

In Philadelphia, 72cm of snow fell during the storm, just shy of the record during a January 1996 blizzard. Snow totals were even higher to the west in Pennsylvania.

Almost 45cm was recorded at Washington's Reagan National Airport, which had cancelled all flights. That's the fourth-highest storm total for the city, and airport officials haven't decided when flights would resume.

At nearby Dulles International Airport in Virginia, the record was shattered with 81cm. Some flights have resumed.

Authorities say most public transportation in Philadelphia has resumed. In Pittsburgh, bus service restarted but light-rail wasn't running. Washington's Metro trains were to be limited on Monday to underground rails, and its buses were going to operate on a very limited basis.

In Mount Lebanon, a suburb south of Pittsburgh, Robb and Meredith Hartlage were again trying to clear the footpath in front of their house.

"We did a couple hours yesterday. I would say about four hours mixed with sledding," said Robb Hartlage, 40, who said he's not too old to play in the snow. He acknowledged, however, that the shovelling was hard work.

"I made some 'old man' noises when I got out of bed," he said.

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