Blizzard Death Toll Rises To At Least 45
A historic winter storm pummeled the Mid-Atlantic, burying parts of the nation in two feet of snow and triggering emergency declarations from Virginia to New Jersey. The storm became the second largest ever in New York City.
A woman decorates a snowman in Times Square Saturday. Yana Paskova / Getty Images
What We Know So Far
- A powerful winter storm battered the East Coast with heavy snow, wind, and coastal flooding.
- At least 45 people died in storm-related accidents, including car crashes, hypothermia, and cardiac arrest while shoveling snow.
- In New York City’s Central Park, 26.8 inches of snow accumulated Saturday, making the storm the second largest on record in the city.
- More than two feet of snow fell in other parts of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
- States of emergency were declared in New Jersey, North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and New York City area.
- More than 7,000 U.S. flights were canceled for Friday and Saturday due to the storm.
A map showing the trajectory of the storm Saturday evening. NWS / Via Twitter: @NWSNewYorkNY
Updates
Federal government offices in Washington D.C. will remain closed on Tuesday.
01/26 DC area Fed offices closed.Emergency & telework-ready employees follow agency policies https://t.co/xZnAHqggkV
— OPM (@USOPM)
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management said only emergency employees or those who work remotely would be working.
Death toll rises to 45
The latest figures from the Associated Press:
- Delaware: 1
- Kentucky: 2
- Maryland: 3
- New Jersey: 3
- New York: 5
- North Carolina: 6
- Ohio: 1
- Pennsylvania: 8
- South Carolina: 4
- Tennessee: 2
- Virginia 9
- Washington, D.C.: 1
Among the dead was an 18-year-old pregnant woman who died Saturday after shoveling snow.
Briahna Gerloff was found collapsed in her Pennsylvania home by a family member, Pottstown Police Capt. Robert Thomas told BuzzFeed News.
The family member found the teen about 45 minutes after she finished shoveling snow outside. Police and medical personnel were called to the scene around 9:15 a.m, but couldn’t save her or her unborn child.
For the full story, go here.
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city is still in a state of emergency and urged people to stay off the roads.
Bowser said there are “several days of clean up ahead of us.” She said the city has made a lot of progress on making major streets and arteries passable.
New York City and Washington, D.C., area airports resumed service Monday but cancelations and delays will continue.
Mike Segar / Reuters
More than 1,500 flights were canceled Monday as the East Coast continued to dig out from the storm. According to data from FlightAware.com, as of 8:10 a.m., 1,548 flights were canceled and another 2,146 flights were experiencing delays.
Newark Airport in New Jersey was the leader with 242 cancelations, followed by New York’s LaGuardia Airport, which had 143 cancelations. In addition to the New York City area airports, both Washington, D.C., airports had significant cancelations with 127 flights grounded out of Dulles Airport and 113 out of Reagan Airport.
Reagan Airport does have limited numbers of flights operating Monday and had tweeted at 6:38 a.m. that the first flights of the day had landed and taken off.
Our first arrival since #blizzard2016 just came in and our first departure is going out. Whew, what a weekend! #FlyReagan
— Reagan Airport (@Reagan_Airport)
Death toll from winter storm rises to at least 30.
The death toll figures have been compiled here by the Associate Press. The deaths related to the storm have mostly been from car accidents, heart attacks while shoveling snow, and carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Kentucky: 2
- Maryland: 2
- New Jersey: 2
- New York: 4
- North Carolina: 6
- Ohio: 1
- Pennsylvania: 1
- Tennessee: 2
- Virginia: 5
- Washington, D.C.: 1
- Delaware: 1
- South Carolina: 3
Aerial footage from the New York Police Department shows how the city looks after the snowstorm:
- Kentucky: 2
- Maryland: 3
- New Jersey: 2
- New York: 3
- North Carolina: 6
- Ohio: 1
- Pennsylvania: 1
- Tennessee: 2
- Virginia: 5
Here’s What New York’s Grand Central Looked Like During The Blizzard
Yana Paskova / Getty Images
Maryland to seek FEMA disaster aid
Shoveling snow in Towson, Maryland, on Sunday. Steve Ruark / AP
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Sunday his state will seek federal disaster aid as they attempt to dig out from the historic blizzard.
Hogan told reporters an entire season’s snow fell in just two days across the state, according to the Baltimore Sun.
“Recovery efforts from this historic storm will be extensive, they will take time and patience,” he said.
NYC cleanup begins, schools to open
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday praised the efforts of city workers in clearing streets of masses of snow overnight, but said more still needed to be done.
“Sanitation did an outstanding, extraordinary job with major streets,” the mayor told reporters at a press conference. He said secondary and tertiary streets received less attention, however, and called for residents to remain off the road again today so city workers could clear streets with more ease.
The mayor said efforts would today be concentrated in Queens, an area that received less attention on Saturday. Some 850 plows and equipment were in the borough alone, city officials said, with 700 laborers also called in to help clear bus stops and cross walks.
At 7 a.m. bus services began to be restored across the city, de Blasio said, while some above ground subway trains began running again at 9 a.m.
Alternate side parking rules would be suspended until Friday the mayor said.
Schools would also be open on Monday.
Police said they issued 25 summonses to people for flouting the travel ban put in effect, including one to a man who they said was driving drunk after the travel ban and who ran two red lights at high speed.
Washington, D.C., public schools will be closed on Monday due to the blizzard cleanup, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced on Sunday.
Bowser and other officials also encouraged “pedestrians and vehicles” to stay off of the roads so crews could clear the roads.
“Two feet of snow, this is a major operation,” Christopher Geldart, the director of D.C.’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, said.
The city will receive more equipment on Sunday to help with the snow-clearing effort. Bowser said she encourages all residents to shovel to help the city dig out from the storm.
“It’s a longer operation; we are working hard and we are going to do everything we can to get this city back as soon as possible,” Geldart said.
Reporting by Jon Passantino, Alicia Melville-Smith, Tamerra Griffin, Ema O’Connor, David Mack, Christina Cocca, Jim Dalrymple, and Michelle Broder Van Dyke.
This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates and follow @BuzzFeedNews on Twitter.
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