Asia-Pacific
'Snowmageddon' blankets Mid-Atlantic in heavy snow
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-02-07 10:05
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WASHINGTON: Mid-Atlantic residents were buried Saturday from a likely record-setting blizzard the president jokingly called "Snowmageddon," and those brave enough tried to clear a path through the wet, heavy mounds of thigh-high snow.
The snow was falling too quickly in the nation's capital for crews to keep up, and officials begged residents to stay home and out of the way so that roads might be cleared in time for everyone to return to work Monday. The usually traffic-snarled roads were mostly barren, and Washington's familiar sites and monuments were covered with nearly 2 feet of snow.
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 Rich Cavey shovels snow away from his car in front of his home during a winter storm in Catonsville, Md., Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010. [Agencies] |
Tihana and Jarrett Blanc had given up on digging, instead taking their dog, Hector, for a walk through northwest Washington during what forecasters said could be the biggest storm for the nation's capital in modern history.
"Our car is stuck. We're not even trying," said Tihana, 36.
The storm toppled trees and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers in Washington, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The situation was the same in West Virginia, where some 400 National Guard troops were helping with snow removal.
Though the focal point remained the nation's capital, people from Pittsburgh, across Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, New Jersey and West Virginia were dealing with snow being measured in feet instead of inches. It was still snowing Saturday in Philadelphia, virtually shutting down the nation's sixth-largest city.
Walt Gursky, 28, braved the roads to go to the Philadelphia International Auto Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center downtown. The event was a ghost town.
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Hundreds of car wrecks were reported across the region, though only two deaths were reported — a father and son who died while helping another motorist in Virginia. By Saturday, most people couldn't drive anywhere because their cars and roads were buried.
In Ellicott City, Md., Christine Benkoski said she was trying to dig out from at least 2 feet. As she tried to clear her driveway, she said she uncovered how the storm had transitioned from snow, to ice, then back to snow.
"I feel like an archaeologist," Benkoski said.
"I've been out here for an hour, and my only goal is to get to the street."
And President Barack Obama, a snow veteran from his days in Chicago, didn't have a smooth day. He walked out of the White House midmorning to find the South Lawn, his backyard, looking nearly like an untouched wilderness. Instead of the familiar scenes of manicured lawns and clipped hedges, snow had piled on every shrub and the backyard was almost colorless.
First, there was a small fender bender on the White House south lawn. Then a tree branch, overcome with snow, cracked and fell on a motorcade vehicle with press inside when the president was coming back from a speech at the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting in town.
Instead of a presidential limo, Obama rode in a black SUV covered with presidential seals.
Obama thanked Democrats for being "willing to brave a blizzard. Snowmageddon here in D.C."
Noting the president's hometown, DNC chairman Tim Kaine said "It's like an April day in Chicago."
After all that, the White House announced Obama would have no more outings for the day.
