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Washington snowed in after monster blizzard

Story Added : 12th February 2010

Battered residents across the eastern United States seaboard have been digging their way out after record snowfalls paralysed the region.

The blizzard affected tens of millions of people and has turned the 2009-2010 winter into the snowiest ever on record for Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia, snapping air and rail links across much of the region and leaving roads too dangerous to navigate.

More than 8,000 homes in Maryland and Virginia remained without power and the federal government was shut down for the fourth day in a row - at a cost of an estimated $US100 million ($112 million) a day in lost productivity.

Thousands of flights were cancelled or delayed at regional airports, while strong winds and black ice made driving especially perilous.

With snow drifts several feet deep in many parts of the state, heavy lifting equipment and bulldozers were being brought into Maryland to remove the snow as ploughs were unable to cope.

As exhausted residents longed for some respite after being walloped by a major weekend storm compounded by the blizzard, forecasters warned of bad weather ahead that could dump more snow on the area on Monday.

"Obviously, it's had a huge impact on our community," DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services spokesman Pete Piringer said.

"We've been extremely busy, but the sun's out, people are out and about moving around."

The fire department has doubled up its shifts and handled about 3,000 calls over the past five days - more than twice the normal volume - for everything from roof, porch and awning collapses to fires and even a couple of baby deliveries.

About 20 people spent a frigid night stranded inside their vehicles on a road near Frederick, Maryland, where the blizzard's high winds have whipped up 1.83 to 2.44 meters of snowdrifts, police said.

Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty hailed the snow ploughers' "real heroic work," noting the nation's capital has been blanketed with nearly four times more snow than the annual average of 15 inches.

The city's domestic Reagan airport has already logged 1.4 meters of snow in past weeks.

The capital city has already spent six times its annual budget for snow removal.

Washington and the surrounding states of Maryland and Virginia have also requested help from the federal government to help cope with the impact.

- AFP

Story Added by ABC.
Date Added : 12th February 2010

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