The Hindu : Snowstorm affects life in U.S.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 18, 2003

International

International

Snowstorm affects life in U.S.

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

New York feb. 17. A terrific snowstorm accompanied by blizzard conditions has shut down the East and the North-Eastern parts of the U.S. leaving hundreds of thousands of people stranded on the President's Day weekend. But the East and the North-East are only part of the story.

The storm according to meteorologists is part of a system that left or will leave its mark on other parts of the U.S. with floods and mudslides in the South. The focus for the most part is on the East and the North-East where snowfall which began on Sunday continued heavily on Monday morning.

Parts of Maryland which have already accounted for a foot of snow could expect twice that amount by the time the storm tapers off sometime late Monday night or Tuesday morning. And by the time it is all over, New York is expected to be left with at least a foot of snow.

The fury of the storm meant that Washington D.C. was shut down with the closure of the Baltimore Washington International Airport and also the Ronald Reagan National Airport.

The Dulles airport is open with one runway functioning but most incoming and outgoing flights have been cancelled. The situation in New York is not any better since late Sunday with authorities asking people not to take to the streets with their automobiles unless they absolutely have to. There is very little activity at the major airports — La Guardia, JFK and Newark.

The snowfall in Maryland, Virginia and Washington was so heavy that it not merely disrupted air travel — Amtrak cancelled some of its services on the Washington-Richmond route; heavy problems reported in portions of the Interstate 95 that links Washington, Pennsylvania and New York too.

The U.S. President, George W Bush, who normally takes a helicopter ride back to the White House from Camp David came by motorcade on Sunday. The Governor of Maryland has declared a State of Emergency and has banned civilian traffic from state highways. "This is looking like the largest storm this year and it may be one of the top five in our recorded history. You name a place, they've got snow — and a lot of it,'' a Maryland Highway Administration official has said. Many see this winter storm to hit the East Coast as the worst one in seven years; and the second in 24 years to come on the President's Day weekend.

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