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Washington:
More than 1.6 million people in five states in northeastern United
States remained without power Tuesday morning three days after a
freak snow storm over the weekend that claimed at least 13 lives.
The governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and
Massachusetts declared an emergency Monday as workers scrambled to
get the situation under control, but officials warned it could be
Friday before power is back on everywhere.
President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration for
Connecticut Monday, ordering federal aid to supplement state and
local response efforts.
Heavy, wet snow fell across the region, snapping trees still
bearing leaves and cutting power lines. Widespread power cuts were
reported in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
The snowstorm smashed record snowfall totals for October.
Washington was largely spared by the snowstorm, but thousands of
people in its suburbs in Maryland and Virginia surrounding the
national capital lost power.
About a dozen Massachusetts cities postponed Halloween
trick-or-treat celebrations, while at least 20 Connecticut cities
and towns, including the capital city of Hartford, cancelled
events, CNN reported.
Some of the heaviest snow fell in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New
Jersey and New York, but snowfall amounts of at least a foot were
recorded from West Virginia to Maine. The Berkshire County
community of Peru, Massachusetts, received 32 inches of snow
during the storm.
About 1,300 people were staying in Massachusetts shelters, state
officials said on Monday. In Connecticut, 50 shelters were open.
Connecticut power officials said early Tuesday that about 690,000
people were still without power, down from a peak of more than
900,000.
In Massachusetts, about 346,000 people remained without power
early Tuesday, according to officials. Utility crews had come from
as far as Louisiana and Texas to help, they said.
Elsewhere, about 127,000 people were without power in
Pennsylvania; nearly 325,000 in New Jersey and 176,000 in New
York, according to figures from emergency managers and power
companies in those states.
CNN, citing officials, said four people each died in New Jersey
and Pennsylvania, three in Massachusetts and two in Connecticut.
(Arun Kumar can
be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
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