By Arun Kumar,IANS,
Washington : This capital city of the world’s most powerful nation and the areas around were still trying hard Monday to dig themselves out of what President Barack Obama called a “Snowmaggedon” and a local daily a “historic mess”.
With Saturday’s record-setting blizzard piling up over two feet of snow across the Washington-Baltimore belt, federal workers were asked to stay home Monday except for emergency employees. Most schools and colleges in the nation’s capital also got a snow day off.
Many residents who spent the weekend gleefully making snowmen and hurling snowballs grumbled as they painfully shovelled hip-high snow from parking lots and driveways, and the weatherman promised to dump more snow this week.
Just a few cars ventured out from their homes to replenish supplies as the prospects of staying cooped up at home for several days loomed large with the National Weather Service predicting a new storm could bring more than five inches of snow and winds up to 25 mph (40 kmph)in the Washington and Baltimore region as early as Tuesday.
Crews worked around the clock to clear roads and repair power lines, warning that it might take days to restore electricity to some customers from Pennsylvania to Virginia, CNN reported.
A record 32.4 inches of snow fell on Washington’s Dulles International Airport over two days, breaking a January 7-8, 1996, record of 23.2 inches. The airport reopened to limited service Sunday but asked travellers not to arrive at the airport without confirmed flights.
The Reagan National Airport is expected to remain closed until later Monday. At Baltimore-Washington International Airport, some flights began arriving after two runways opened Sunday night. However, airport officials expect delays and cancellations Monday because of the backlog.
Amtrak said it cancelled several trains Sunday after downed trees and power lines fell on its tracks. Dozens of Greyhound routes in middle Atlantic states also were cancelled, the company said on its website. And officials across the region advised drivers to stay off slick roads.