HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A winter storm that
shut down much of the South churned up the
coast Wednesday, dumping wet, heavy snow
across the Northeast and saving its most brutal
punch for New England, where hundreds of cars
spun out and schools and businesses shut down.
Armies of plows and salt spreaders hit streets
across the region to stem chaos during
Wednesday morning's commute. In Connecticut,
where nearly 2 feet of snow had fallen and it as
still coming down, state police responded to
about 500 spinouts, fender-benders and stranded
vehicles. Four minor injuries were reported.
"Troopers are going from one stranded vehicle to
another," said Lt. J. Paul Vance, a department
spokesman.
In New York, where officials took heavy criticism
for slow response to a Dec. 26 blizzard, the
morning commute got off to a promising start as
plows cleared streets blocked for days by the last
storm. Nearly 9 inches fell in Central Park, well
short of the 20 inches last month's storm
dumped on the city.
New England, though, appeared to be caught off
guard by the ferocity of the storm. Gov. Dannel
P. Malloy, leading the state through what
threatened to be his first disaster, ordered a
double shift of state troopers onto highways.
Heavy snow and gusting winds closed hundreds
of schools and businesses from Maine and New
Hampshire southward.
"You can't see across the street. The wind and
snow is blowing about 40 miles an hour
sideways," said Artie Perrin, general manager at
Kelly's Roast Beef in Revere, north of Boston.
Ridgefield, Conn., had 22 inches of snow by 8
a.m., and Danbury had 18 inches. In Bridgeport,
the state's largest city, a snow emergency was
declared and only city and education board
employees essential to storm operations were
expected at work. In Maine, an inch of snow an
hour was meant snow plows had a hard time
keeping up.
Every flight in and out of Boston's Logan Airport
was delayed. New York's LaGuardia Airport
canceled 675 flights, Kennedy Airport 300 and
Newark Liberty 440. Philadelphia's airport
reported about 20 dozen canceled outbound
flights and 100 canceled arrivals, but
spokeswoman Victoria Lupica expected things to
be back in full swing by noon.
Officials cautioned motorists to stay off the road
from the Carolinas to Maine. Massachusetts Gov.
Deval Patrick noted reports of spinouts and
disoriented motorists heading the wrong way on
highways.
In New Jersey, relatively few problems were
reported Wednesday and plows were out in
force. Locals were keeping a close eye on Gov.
Chris Christie, who left for a Disney World family
vacation in Orlando, Fla., just before the
Christmas blizzard struck the Northeast even
though his lieutenant governor also was out of
state.
Christie, who was heavily criticized for the trip,
has said he and the lieutenant governor wouldn't
be out of state at the same time again and even
joked last week about "shoveling myself" to dig
people out of snow if necessary.
The storm was the third to hit New York in less
than three weeks, after the crippling Dec. 26
blizzard and a 2-inch dusting last week.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said crews
would work even harder after criticism of how
the city handled the blizzard, when hundreds of
streets went unplowed, subway riders were
stranded and medical calls unanswered because
ambulances were unable to navigate snowy
streets.
In Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood, an area
paralyzed by last month's storm, all major and
side streets were plowed by Wednesday
morning. A few cars skidded on the slush.
"It's going to be a difficult, difficult rush hour,"
Bloomberg had said Tuesday. "The storm is
predicted to be at its heaviest just a few hours
before rush hour, and there's no way that our
city's plows can get to all 6,000 streets in one or
two hours."
The city stood ready Wednesday with more than
300 salt spreaders, 1,700 plows, and 200 front-
end loaders, backhoes and Bobcats. Sanitation
workers were on 12-hour shifts.
Seth Andrews, a spokesman for the city's Office
of Emergency Management, said that as of
around 3:30 a.m. no serious problems had been
reported although a few vehicles had gotten
stuck. He said crews were out in full force to
handle any emergencies.
Snow and ice had already shut down much of
the South for two days before the storm joined
forces with another coming in from the Midwest
and swept northward.
Road crews lacked winter equipment, salt and
sand to clear the roads, and millions of people
just stayed home. Mail delivery was restricted,
and many schools and other institutions closed.
The storm was blamed for 11 deaths and many
more injuries.
Some schools remained closed Wednesday in
western North Carolina, as well as schools in
Charlotte, the state's largest city. Workers
reported progress clearing highways but warned
many secondary roads remained dangerous
because of ice. A winter weather advisory was in
effect until noon in northwestern South Carolina
as up to 9 inches of melted snow refroze on the
roads.
Despite the inconvenience, Southerners
confronted the aftermath with patience and a
measure of wonder.
Lynn Marentette, a school psychologist who lives
south of Charlotte, N.C., stayed home after
classes were canceled. She spent Tuesday
catching up with friends on Facebook and
watching children sled down a nearby hill — and
ignored the stack of paperwork on her desk.
"It is a beautiful, beautiful day out there," she said.
"I have some paperwork and some things I've
really put off doing, but how often do you have a
chance to enjoy the snow?"
Contributing to this report were Associated Press
writers Frank Eltman in Carle Place, N.Y.; Kiley
Armstrong; Sara Kugler Frazier, Chris Hawley,
Karen Matthews and Ula Ilnytzky in New York;
Beth DeFalco in Trenton, N.J.; Dorie Turner, Don
Schanche and Errin Haines in Atlanta; Bill Poovey
in Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Gary D. Robertson in
Raleigh, N.C.
Source: Http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jH82ObQVZDqdm2mV45Hg2CKDrjfQ?docId=8f09820fc5464955b383043453363e6f
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