From the BBC:
“US
snowstorm: Record-breaking blizzard slams East Coast”
A powerful
snowstorm has swept through the north-eastern US, breaking records in
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York and affecting 60 million people. Parts
of northern New York received three feet (90cm) of snowfall, and New York City
received all of last year's snow total in just this one storm. Weather
officials warned of "dangerous, if not impossible travel conditions"
as they struggled to plough icy roadways. Hundreds of car crashes were
reported, with at least two fatalities. Warnings were in place on Thursday for
14 states, with officials begging residents not to leave home unless absolutely
necessary. The city of Binghamton, New York, received 45 inches (114cm) of
snowfall, breaking its all-time record for the month of December. Parts of
Pennsylvania reached 40 inches (102cm), according to the weather officials. The
Williamsport Regional Airport broke its previous snowfall record, reporting
24.7 inches of snow. "It's a historic storm for areas inland that got
underneath the snow band," National Weather Service meteorologist Bob
Oravec told Reuters. "If you get underneath one of those bands, the snow
rate can be tremendous - four or five inches per hour - and that's what
occurred today," he said. Police in Pennsylvania said a pile-up left two
people dead on a major highway, the Interstate 80 in Clinton County. Multiple
people were also injured in the crash which involved between 30-60 vehicles. Six
people were also hurt in a separate multi-car collision in New York City
involving 27 vehicles. Schools across the city moved to online learning on
Thursday and outdoor dining was suspended. Boston also received more than nine
inches of snow on Thursday, breaking the previous record for the date set in
2013. According to the FlightAware website, more than 1,800 flights were
cancelled, and another 4,000 delayed. Some rail services have also been
suspended across the north-east. For Nick Licata, an English teacher from New
Jersey, snow storms are usually a cause for celebration as they come with days
off work. But this year "there is no celebration," says the
51-year-old. Because of Covid-19, he has been teaching remotely from his
basement and will keep doing so during the storm. Snow storms happen every year
in the US - but like everything in 2020, the snow storm feels different this
year."They usually close everything down and the traffic gets so bad...
but this storm feels different," says Olga Zhukov, 30, a dog-walker and
barista. "The city was already slower paced because of Covid - sometimes
it doesn't feel like New York City because the usual hustle and bustle is just
not happening." Officials said they did not expect the storm to disrupt
Covid-19 vaccine distribution, which began in the US on Monday. However,
coronavirus testing centres in a number of states including New York,
Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland have closed, CBS News reports. Officials
say they are monitoring any potential impact of the storm on the delivery of
the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to hospitals. "We're following all of
that," Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said. "We have
prepositioned Centers for Disease Control and Prevention people at each place
receiving people. This is FedEx, this is UPS express shipping - they know how
to deal with snow and bad weather, but we are on it and following it." Meanwhile,
parts of Japan are seeing more than seven feet of snow fall in the past 72
hours, as the country faces its own record-breaking blizzard.
^ We got 38 inches
(97 cm) of snow. I cleared the walkway to my front door and my balcony. Hopefully,
the guy we hire to plow will come and plow the driveway tonight so I can go
back out tomorrow morning and finish clearing everything. ^
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