Filed by KOSU News in US News.
February 8, 2010

Federal agencies, schools and many businesses in the nation’s capital remained closed Monday, as the Mid-Atlantic continued to dig out after a record-breaking snowfall.

The storm — which dumped up to 3 feet of snow in areas from Ohio northward through six states and Washington, D.C. — grounded planes, stopped above-ground train service and blocked cars from the roadways. Tree branches weighed down by snow snapped, bringing down power lines and leaving many homes without power.

With early morning temperatures in the teens, roadways were treacherous, and area transportation officials urged motorists to stay home where possible — and to use caution if they ventured out onto icy bridges and overpasses.

Jenni McCord, spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Transportation, estimated that crews with have removed about 500,000 tons of snow from northern Virginia roadways from Friday through Monday. The snow pack was so high in some areas that crews took the unusual step of hauling snow away to a dump site under the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.

Road crews were working double time to remove the 18 inches to more than 3 feet of of snow that blanketed the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area from the weekend storm, as the area braced for more snowfall.

“We’re racing against the clock with another storm on the way Tuesday,” said McCord. Although nearly 8,000 lane miles of major roadways have been cleared, crews are now working to plow more than 9,000 lanes miles in area subdivisions.

The National Weather Service issued another storm watch for the Washington, D.C. Area for Tuesday. Forecasters said the next storm could dump another 5 to 10 inches on the area from mid-afternoon Tuesday through Wednesday.

“You’ve got a whole city held captive here,” Gwen Dawkins, who was trying to get to Detroit, said as she waited at Washington’s Reagan National Airport, where all flights had been canceled after 18 inches of snow was recorded by Sunday. That was the fourth-highest storm total for Washington.

Reagan remained closed for snow and ice removal Monday and officials said operations were expected to resume at some point during the day.

Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport opened one runway Sunday evening, but airport officials warned that delays and cancellations will likely continue Monday.

Dulles International Airport was open, but the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority warned that some flights may be canceled or delayed.

Power crews and contractors were working around the clock to restore electricity to 287,000 customers in Virginia alone. By Monday, electricity was restored to 271,000 homes in the Northern Virginia and Charlottesville area, and officials expected remaining customers would have service by Tuesday night.

In Washington, people took enjoyed the winter wonderland in Rock Creek Park on cross-country skis. Children and adults slid down the hills using cookie sheets and pieces of plastic as makeshift sleds.

John and Nicole Ibrahim and their 2-year-old son, Joshua, have been without power at their suburban Washington home in Silver Spring, Md., since overnight Friday. They were among hundreds of thousands without electricity across the region, and utilities warned it could be days before electricity is restored to everyone.

“We were all bundled up in the same bed together and (Joshua) was coughing in his sleep and his heart was racing, and we worried he might be getting pneumonia,” Nicole Ibrahim said

Eric Berry, a plow driver for Baltimore, said he worked 12-hour shifts Saturday and Sunday. He said overanxious residents were sometimes hindering his ability to clear secondary roads by digging out their cars and moving them into the path of his plow.

“They feel like they need to park in the street, so that when it’s time to go, they can up and go,” Berry said.

In Philadelphia, 28.5 inches of snow fell during the storm, just shy of the record 30.7 inches during a January 1996 blizzard. Snow totals were even higher to the west in Pennsylvania, with 31 inches recorded in Upper Strasburg and 30 inches in Somerset.

Authorities say most public transportation in Philadelphia has resumed. In Pittsburgh, bus service restarted but light-rail wasn’t running. Washington’s Metro trains were to be limited Monday to underground rails, and its buses were going to operate on a very limited basis.

Written and reported by NPR’s Deborah Tedford, with reporting by Carol Anne Clark Kelly and Tovia Smith. The Associated Press also contributed to this report. Copyright 2010 National Public Radio