Blizzard claims 29, paralyzes East Coast
The blizzard that blanketed much of the eastern United States over the weekend set several records, paralyzed traffic, damaged property and claimed 29 lives.
A massive blizzard that blanketed much of the eastern United States set records, paralyzed travel and damaged property. Here’s a look at the storm’s impact:
Who got the most snow?
Glengary, W.Va. can boast it took the storm’s biggest blow: 42 inches. Several other spots saw more than 3 feet, according to the National Weather Service: 40.5 inches in Shepherdstown, W.Va.; 39 inches each in Philomont, Va., and Jones Springs, W.Va.; 38 inches in both Gainsboro, Va., and Redhouse, Md.; 37 in Clear Spring, Md.; and 36.9 in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
Among major cities, New York got 26.8 inches in Central Park. The bulk of that — 26.6 inches — fell on Saturday, making that 24-hour period the snowiest on record, according to the NWS. The entire storm was the second-biggest on record for the city, falling just a tenth of an inch short of one from February 2006.
It appears to be Baltimore’s biggest single snowstorm, with a total of 29.2 inches at the city’s airport topping its previous record of 26.8 inches during the “Presidents Day Storm” of 2003.
Washington’s records were less clear. The official three-day total of 17.8 inches measured at Reagan National Airport was short of accumulations recorded elsewhere in the city. An official total of 22.4 inches landed at the National Zoo, but since some of that fell Friday night, it might not have beat the city’s singleday record of 21 inches, set on Jan. 28, 1922.
Philadelphia recorded 22.4 inches — exactly matching the average snowfall for the entire season.
Storm-related deaths
There were at least 29 weather-related deaths — mostly from carbon monoxide, car crashes or shoveling snow — reported by authorities.
Among the dead were a U.S. Capitol Police officer who died of a heart attack after shoveling snow at his home in Delaware. Nicole Alston says her husband, 44-year-old Officer Vernon Alston, collapsed Saturday afternoon outside their home in Magnolia after he’d been shoveling snow for about an hour. She says he died within seconds. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid announced Alston’s death on Sunday, calling him “a fixture on the Capitol grounds.”
Elsewhere, two people died from heart attacks while shoveling snow in Maryland, and three people died while shoveling snow in New York City.
Authorities in South Carolina say an elderly couple in Greenville died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Ruby Bell, 86, and her husband, 87-year-old Robert Bell, were found dead at home by their son over the weekend. The couple had lost power during the storm and a relative had set up a generator in their garage. The relative left the garage door propped open with a ladder, but it somehow closed and the generator filled the house with carbon monoxide.
A 23-year-old New Jersey woman and her 1-year-old son died of carbon monoxide poisoning after snow covered the tailpipe of their car. Passaic police said the woman’s 3-yearold daughter was also hospitalized.
Another carbon monoxide death was reported in Pennsylvania, where officials said a man was sitting in his running car when a passing snow plow deluged his car, blocking the tailpipe and preventing him from getting out.
A Kentucky transportation worker died while plowing snow-covered highways, officials said. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet identified him as Christopher Adams, who called a supervisor about 5:50 a.m., saying his plow slid into a ditch. When the supervisor arrived, Adams was slumped over, unresponsive in his seat. A cause of death has not been released.
An Ohio teenager sledding behind an all-terrain vehicle was hit by a truck and killed, the State Highway Patrol said. The truck failed to yield at a traffic light and hit the sled, which the ATV was pulling in Wheelersburg, the highway patrol said.
In North Carolina, a man who went to help a stuck driver was shot to death. Jefferson Heavner had stopped to help a stranded motorist but decided to call police after noticing the man was intoxicated, Catawba County Sheriff Coy Reid said. The 27-year-old suspect was held without bail on a murder charge. The damage
The blizzard’s heavy snow, powerful winds and churning high tides collapsed roofs and inundated homes.
A Pennsylvania church held a cyber-only service on Sunday after its roof collapsed in the storm. Pastor Lee Wiggins says it will take about six months to repair the $1 million in damages sustained by Calvary Fellowship Church in Downingtown.
A historic theater in Virginia billed as “Home of Virginia’s Lil’ Ole Opry” was a total loss after its roof collapsed on Friday. The Donk’s Theater opened in 1947 as a movie house near the Chesapeake Bay and was resurrected as a country music venue after closing in the 70s.
A Maryland farmer who thought he was protecting his cows from the elements by moving them inside lost part of his herd when the structure’s roof gave way. Douglas Fink said he and his wife were getting ready to go inside the barn to feed the cows when the roof buckled.
Along the mid-Atlantic coast, water swept into some communities in New Jersey and Delaware. Restaurants along the Jersey shore were partially submerged by floodwaters on Saturday — one business owner said the water was waist-deep.
In Delaware, about a dozen people to be evacuated from the low-lying community of Oak Orchard.
Getting around
Airports began returning to normal on Sunday, but more than 800 flights were canceled for Monday. Travel bans that restricted non-emergency vehicles from streets all across the region were lifted, but mass transit services faced hurdles.
In New York, trains started running out of Grand Central Terminal but service on the Long Island Rail Road — the nation’s busiest commuter rail service — was still suspended. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says the goal is to bring back service for the Monday morning commute.
In Washington, all federal offices will remain closed on Monday. Partial rail and bus service will resume Monday — for free — at 7 a.m., officials said.
In Philadelphia, where subways ran through the storm, transit officials began restoring bus and trolley services but most commuter trains were canceled Sunday. Officials said they expected those trains to be operating with delays on Monday morning.