Fresh snow misery hits eastern US
Posted: 10 February 2010 1237 hrs

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WASHINGTON: A major snowstorm pummeled the United States from Illinois to Virginia and New York, nearing all-time winter records after an epic weekend blizzard paralyzed Washington and much of the east coast.

Federal government offices in the capital will be closed Wednesday for the third straight day, while local schools prepared to remain closed until next week as the National Weather Service forecast the mid-Atlantic region would get up to 14 inches of fresh snow.

A winter storm warning was in effect until 7:00pm Wednesday (0000 GMT Thursday) for Washington, central Maryland, northern Virginia and eastern West Virginia, with the official forecasting service warning that strong winds accompanying the snowfall will make travel "very hazardous."

Thousands of homes were still without power after Friday and Saturday's massive snowfall dubbed "Snowmageddon" left whole neighborhoods entombed in as much as three feet of the white stuff. Strong winds expected to accompany the second storm could also translate to further power outages.

Snow-weary residents have since scrambled to get a sense of normalcy, digging out, stocking up on depleted groceries and clearing their streets from fallen trees and branches.

But even before what some are calling "Snoverkill" hit, many secondary roadways remained treacherous with piles of snow and near-invisible black ice.

Harried commuters in the mid-Atlantic states struggled to dig out buried cars and trundle to work on icy roads, while subway users in the capital suffered long waits despite the relaunch of suspended overground services earlier Tuesday.

But just hours after the first new flurries began to fall, Metro said subway service would be limited to underground only stations until Thursday, while transit officials canceled bus and shuttle service.

Most of the 230,000 federal employees were off work, although isolated government offices including the White House, parts of Congress and some agencies were operational. The government shutdown did not come cheap, at a tune of an estimated US$100 million a day in lost productivity.

The House of Representatives put off all votes until the week of February 22, when Congress returns from the President's Day holiday, and many congressional hearings were rescheduled or delayed.

Just as a thaw had brought hope of respite, Tuesday's storm was expected to bring headaches to a broader region than the weekend blizzard, moving through the Midwest and traveling further up the east coast, reaching as far north as New England and its biggest city, Boston.

School officials in the Washington region said they would not reopen until after Monday's President's Day holiday, a daunting prospect for parents with stir-crazy kids. Even the New York public school system announced closures for Wednesday.

Jennifer Ganem, stuck at home in the Maryland suburbs with four children under the age of 10, said her family had been particularly challenged by a weekend power outage that kept them in the dark for almost two days.

"We played a lot of card games and they handled the cold much better than I expected," she said. "They've held up great. I think that they are more resilient than adults are."

Washington, Virginia and Maryland all declared emergencies, allowing them to mobilize the National Guard to help cope with the unusually severe winter wallop.

No flights were expected to take off from Washington's Reagan National and Dulles International airports on Wednesday, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said.

Airlines operating out of New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Chicago also reported cancellations and delays.

The government-owned rail corporation Amtrak said it would operate limited service along its money-making Northeast corridor on Wednesday. In addition to snow, the rail service was also battling downed trees and power lines.

Ganem said news of another blast of snow was a real downer, even for her children who usually look forward to sledding and snow days off from school.

"My daughter actually said to me this morning, 'OK, I am done with winter now,'" she said.

"That is a bad sign when you have got 20 more inches of snow coming."

- AFP/sc