Several flights were canceled and schools and other establishments were closed in the northeastern area of the States such as New York, Boston, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia as a heavy snowstorm fell and blizzard warnings were enforced in southeastern Massachusetts, southeastern Connecticut and eastern and central Long Island, New York. This has been the worst snowstorm yet in the season, according to weather reports.
The strong winds and freezing snow is said to continue until Friday, with the wind gusts even reaching up to 40 mph in some areas. The public are warned not to go out during the storm and wait until everything safe, as these dreadful conditions may cause unprecedented accidents especially vehicular.
In Massachusetts, over 57,000 homes had their power cut off because of the storm. According to Glenn Field, the warning coordination meteorologist in Taunton, trees and electricity poles were knocked down by the strong winds.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker already made a public statement and warned his residents about the severity of the storm. "We are asking folks to stay off the roads tomorrow and not travel unless absolutely necessary," he said. "The last time we had a storm of this nature, accumulation turned out to be much higher than originally anticipated."
Although no massive casualties have been reported yet, a man in New York died while shoveling snow. Miguel Gonzalez was a 59-year old doorman who has been reported to fall through a glass window. He was pronounced dead at the Metropolitan Hospital and apparently suffered a heart attack.
Several car accidents have also been reported during the heavy snowstorm. The Suffolk County in Long Island already had 18 car crashes, Nassau County had 19, and Connecticut reported to have over 30 car accidents during the storm.
In an interview, Suffolk County executive Steven Bellone said: "There's a tremendous amount of snow falling at a very high rate with wind gusts up to 50 mph. Those are conditions that are just not possible to be driving in."
All residents in the Northeastern coast are reminded to stay vigilant and wait out the storm in their homes by public officials. Even non-essential government employees were not required to work while the storm is ongoing.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
