Huge swath of US hit by winter storm
HARTFORD (AP) — Residents across a huge swath of the US were hunkered down as a massive winter storm packing snow, ice and high winds, followed by possible recordbreaking cold, moved up the Eastern Seaboard, with the worst conditions expected from the Carolinas to Maine.
The massive storm expected today began two days ago in the Gulf of Mexico, first hitting the Florida panhandle.
It has prompted thousands of canceled flights, shuttered schools and businesses and sparked fears of coastal flooding and power outages.
Wind gusts of 50 mph to 60 mph, strong enough to cause downed trees and power lines, are predicted in places where the National Weather Service has issued blizzard warnings.
They include the Delmarva Peninsula, which includes parts of Delaware, Virginia and Maryland; coastal New Jersey; eastern Long Island, New York; and coastal eastern New England.
Winter storm warnings stretched as far south as South Carolina on Wednesday night, but National Weather Service Meteorologist Dan Peterson said the storm should be over by early Saturday in the southern states.
For most of today, he said, the storm will impact the Northeast, with Boston possibly getting up to 14 inches of snow. The storm will then be followed by a wave of bracing cold.
“We think there are going to be scattered records broken for low temperatures,” said Peterson, adding how the weather service expects 28 major cities across New England, eastern New York and the mid-Atlantic states will have record low temperatures by dawn on Sunday.
State and local officials urged residents to prepare for possible power losses and stay home so crews can clear streets and roads of what could be as much as foot or more of snow in some places.
There were concerns in Boston and elsewhere that if roads aren’t properly cleared, they could freeze into cement-like icy messes by Saturday, given the expected low temperatures.
In other areas, plummeting temperatures already have caused water mains to burst.
“As your governor, I am asking you, I am imploring you to stay home tomorrow. Let us do our work,” Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, said Wednesday.
The state’s electric utility, National Grid, predicted power could be knocked out to an estimated 50,000 customers with the expected high winds that could gust up to 113 kilometers per hour.
The blast of winter weather and plunging temperatures that has gripped much of the US in recent days already has taken a human toll.
The number of deaths linked to the relentless cold had risen to at least 17 on Wednesday. Two homeless men were found dead in Houston, where police said the deaths were believed to be the result of “exposure to frigid weather.” Deaths also were reported in Mississippi, Michigan and other states.
In Virginia, where Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency, people were buying shovels and insulation for pipes as flurries began to fall on Wednesday.