More snow falls on the Northeast US as the region scrambles to clear piles from last storm
NEW YORK– Light snow fell across parts of the Northeast Wednesday as people heading to work and school tried to navigate their way out of a massive storm that dropped piles of powder on streets and sidewalks from Maryland to Maine.
An inch to 3 inches of snow was expected — a far cry from the last storm — but any snow that melted would likely have frozen overnight, resulting in patches of black ice that would make some roads slippery, the National Weather Service said.
This week’s gigantic snowstorm left towns scrambling to clear towering piles that showed no signs of melting anytime soon.
As of Tuesday evening, New York City had spread 143 million pounds (65 million kilograms) of salt, according to Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and had recruited at least 3,500 people as emergency shovelers. The $30-an-hour shifts involve clearing snow from public streets and bus stops.
But there was still a lot of work to be done, especially for the many people with disabilities.
Jeff Peters, a spokesman for the Disability Independence Center of New York, described parts of the city as impassable islands.
“You’ll find part of a sidewalk that’s clear, and then there’s maybe a 6-inch (15-centimeter) path that can only be walked with one foot in front of the other and no room for a stroller, walker, walker or crutches,” Peters said. “Then you come around the corner and not only is it not shoveled, but you basically have a glacier at the end.”
Tina Guenette, who uses a motorized wheelchair, had to shovel her yard this week after falling more than 33 inches (84 centimeters) in Harrisville, Rhode Island, a town about 17 miles northwest of Providence.
“I really don’t have a choice if my service dog wants to go out,” Guenette said Tuesday. Harrisville has a volunteer snow removal program, but there haven’t been any volunteers in a few years, she said.
Monday’s storm blanketed the region with snow, canceled flights, disrupted public transportation, brought down power lines and killed at least one person. More than 3 feet fell in Rhode Island, surpassing the snow total from the historic 1978 blizzard that hit the Northeast, the weather service said.
Meteorologist Ryan Maue, former chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said that if all the snow that fell from Maryland to Maine fell on Manhattan alone, the snow would exceed a mile high.
In Newport, Rhode Island, Joseph Boutros, 21, was found unconscious inside a snow-covered vehicle Monday evening, city police said in a statement. The Salve Regina University student was taken to hospital and pronounced dead from carbon monoxide poisoning, police said.
In New York, workers will use huge pools of hot water where large amounts of snow and ice will be dumped, Acting Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan said. They helped melt 23 million pounds (11.5 tons) of snow during last month’s storm.
In snowy Providence, Rhode Island, the city is bringing snow to five locations, according to Josh Estrella, communications director for city government. The challenge is so great that additional landfills could be added, Estrella said.
Some large school districts resumed in-person classes Wednesday, including Philadelphia, which had moved to online learning during the first two days of the week. Schools have reopened in Boston. They had been closed since last week for the winter holidays.
In New York, more than 900,000 students in the nation’s largest public school system had a normal day Tuesday. Many students and their caregivers climbed mountainous snowbanks and dodged salt spreaders during morning disembarkation.
Power had returned to many of the hundreds of thousands who lost electricity in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware and Rhode Island. But nearly 160,000 Massachusetts customers were still without power Wednesday morning.
Thousands of flights to and from the United States have been canceled in recent days. On Wednesday, the disruptions appeared to be easing, with nearly 200 people grounded, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. Rhode Island’s TF Green International Airport reopened Tuesday. Some flights left on Wednesday, while others were canceled.
When Jamie Meyers’ plane landed in New York from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Tuesday evening, the cabin full of relieved passengers erupted in applause. The Manhattan resident was supposed to arrive home Sunday but faced a cancellation and significant delay.
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Golden was reported in Seattle and Boone in Boise, Idaho. Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz, Michael R. Sisak and Philip Marcelo in New York; Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pa.; Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.
