A major winter storm struck the East Coast last week and continued through the weekend, bringing heavy snow, traffic accidents, flight cancellations, flooding, and several deaths. The cleanup efforts are far from over in some areas.
Glengary, West Virginia was one of the hardest-hit areas, reporting 42 inches of snowfall. John F. Kennedy Airport got 31 inches, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport reported 29.2 inches, Washington Dulles International Airport got 28 inches, Newark got 28 inches, Central Park got 26.8 inches, and Philadelphia got 22 inches of snow.
Some residents of New Jersey experienced flooding that they said was worse than Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Some people stayed in their homes and needed to be rescued.
At least 27 people died as a result of the storm. They included nine people in New York, six in North Carolina, six in Virginia, and one each in Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Washington. Many of the deaths involved people who had heart attacks after shoveling snow.
Authorities urged people to stay off the roads during the storm. A parking ban was in effect in New York City until Sunday. The weather was responsible for a seven-mile backup involving about 500 vehicles on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Friday night. Some drivers were stranded for about 24 hours. Some drivers in Kentucky were stuck on a 35-mile stretch of Interstate 75 for 19 hours. As many as 200 vehicles were stuck on I-77 in West Virginia.
Thousands of flights were canceled at airports up and down the East Coast over the weekend. Another 1,800 were canceled and 3,225 were delayed on Monday.
Federal government offices in the Washington, DC area and state government offices in Maryland and Virginia were closed on Monday. Public schools in Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and some parts of New York and New Jersey were closed on Monday.
Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said it would take several more days to complete the cleanup process. Some Metro lines in the city were still out of service Monday morning. Airports in the city were open, but many flights were delayed. Long Island Railroad service had been restored for about 80 percent of riders by Monday morning.
