Round 2: Blizzards hit Mid-Atlantic

WASHINGTON (AP) — Blizzard warnings spanned the Mid-Atlantic early Wednesday as the second major snowstorm in less than a week barreled into the region, leaving more than 10 inches of new snow in northern Maryland before dawn and threatening a whiteout for New York City.

Plows have been rolling around the clock for days in the nation’s capital, Philadelphia and Baltimore after nearly 3 feet of snow fell in some areas — and they won’t be stopping anytime soon.

Snow was falling from northern Virginia to Connecticut by early Wednesday after crawling out of the Midwest, where the storm canceled hundreds of flights and was blamed for three traffic deaths in Michigan.

The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings Wednesday that extended into New York City, where 10 to 16 inches could fall. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights at New York-area airports and schools in the city were closed.

The manager of a Staten Island 7-Eleven, Yagnesh Patel, had a slippery drive to work ahead of the plows. “It’s going to be a tough day ahead,” Patel said.

Along the East coast, thousands of workers were scrambling to plow and salt roads. Maryland officials said salt supplies used by road crews were dwindling in some parts of the state. A spokesman for Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation said drivers’ shifts were running as long as 16 hours.

“It can be exhausting, mentally and physically,” said Jerry Graham, a state plow truck driver in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh County.

Areas that dodged last week’s storm won’t be as lucky this time around. Airports in the New York City area joined their counterparts farther south in canceling many flights, while the city’s 1.1 million school children had a rare snow day Wednesday, only the third in six years. As much as a foot was expected there.

A forecast of at least that much new snow wasn’t welcome in Washington and Philadelphia, which were hit hard by a blizzard over the weekend. Each needs about 9 more inches to give the cities their snowiest winters since 1884, the first year records were kept.

“It’s hard to find anything in the history books of these types of storms back-to-back,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Stephen Konarik.

Michael Giambattista, 56, a truck driver from Elizabeth, Pa., had been without power since Friday and was staying at a Red Cross shelter near his home with his girlfriend and 13-year-old son.

“I’ve never been without power like this,” said Giambattista, who was trying to help keep spirits up among the more than 50 people at the shelter. “Mother Nature, you can’t battle her. She’s going to win.”

The storms have kept some workers and students home for the better part of a week. About 230,000 federal workers in Washington have been off since Friday afternoon, when the first storm began. The U.S. House announced it was scrapping the rest of its workweek. Several hearings and meetings in Congress and federal agencies were postponed, including one planned to address Toyota’s massive recalls.

“It’s embarrassing that the world’s largest superpower closes from a few feet of snow,” said Alex Krause, 23, of Los Angeles, who was stranded in Washington and visiting the National Mall. “The Kremlin must be laughing.”

But the effects of the federal government’s closure were negligible since about 85 percent of federal employees work outside the Washington region. An IRS spokeswoman said tax returns should not be affected.

Story Continues →