US Northeast wakes up to snow, outages

THE US Northeast is digging out after the second powerful nor’easter in less than a week left some areas with more than 2 feet of snow, hundreds of thousands without power, schools closed and travel a mess.

Some places saw more than 2 feet of snow by late on Wednesday and many communities woke up yesterday to a foot or more of snow over their cars.

The late-winter storm left more than 800,000 customers without power in the Northeast — counting some who have been without electricity since last Friday’s destructive nor’easter.

Montville, New Jersey, got more than 26 inches from the nor’easter. North Adams, Massachusetts, registered 24 inches and Sloatsburg, New York, got 26 inches.

Major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor saw much less. Philadelphia International Airport recorded about 6 inches, while New York City’s Central Park saw less than 3 inches.

The storm made traveling treacherous. Thousands of flights across the region were canceled.

It was not much better on the ground. Members of the Northeastern University women’s basketball team pushed their bus back on course after it was stuck in the snow outside a practice facility in Philadelphia. The Huskies were in the city to compete in the 2018 CAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Amtrak suspended service between New York City and Boston until at least 10am yesterday. New York City’s Metro-North commuter railroad suspended service on lines connecting the city to its northern suburbs and Connecticut because of downed trees. It was not known when service would be restored.

There were multiple stormrelated delays on Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s commuter rail, light rail and bus lines, and authorities were investigating after a train with more than 100 passengers on board derailed in Wilmington, Massachusetts. The low-speed derailment was under investigation to determine if it was weather related.

In New Hampshire, Interstate 95 in Portsmouth was closed because of downed power lines.

“It’s kind of awful,” said New York University student Alessa Raiford, who put two layers of clothing on a pug named Jengo before taking him for a walk in slushy, sloppy Manhattan, where rain gave way to wet snow

The storm was not predicted to be as severe as the nor’easter that toppled trees, inundated coastal communities and caused more than 2 million power outages from Virginia to Maine last Friday.

It still proved to be a headache for the tens of thousands of customers still in the dark from the earlier storm — and for the crews trying to restore power to them.

Massachusetts was hardest hit by outages, with more than 300,000 without service early yesterday and Republican Governor Charlie Baker closing all non-essential state offices. Republican Maine Governor Paul LePage also closed state offices and encouraged residents to stay off roads “unless it is an absolute emergency.”

In New Jersey, the state’s major utilities reported more than 247,000 customers without power a day after the storm.