Hundreds of thousands left without power after storm
2/8/2010WASHINGTON - Planes were grounded, trains stood still, and Greyhound buses were not rolling in the Mid-Atlantic yesterday.
Stranded travelers wondered when they would be able to escape the icy mess left by a major snowstorm.
Hundreds of thousands of homes were without power with temperatures below freezing all day. Utilities officials warned it could be days before electricity is completely restored.
Plows had scraped down to bare pavement on some main thoroughfares while not touching streets in many areas buried by 2 feet or more.
In the nation's capital, today will be another day for residents to get back to normal. The federal government made the decision to close agencies today, and many school districts across the region were giving students a snow day.
The National Weather Service called the storm "historic." It reported a foot of snow in parts of Ohio and 2 feet or more in Washington, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Parts of Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia got closer to 3 feet.
Many roads reopened, but officials continued to warn residents that highways were still icy, a remnant from the storm President Obama called "Snowmageddon."
In Washington, the sun was finally shining yesterday.
Almost 18 inches of snow was recorded at nearby Reagan National Airport, which had canceled all flights. That is the fourth-highest storm total for the city. Airport officials had not decided when flights would resume.
At nearby Dulles International Airport in Virginia, the record was shattered with 32 inches. Some flights there have resumed.
In Philadelphia, 28.5 inches of snow fell during the storm, just shy of the record 30.7 inches during the January, 1996, blizzard. Snow totals were even higher to the west in Pennsylvania, with 31 inches recorded in Upper Strasburg and 30 inches in Somerset.
Authorities say most public transportation in Philadelphia has resumed. In Pittsburgh, bus service restarted, but light-rail was not running.