US snowstorm leaves trail of death

Roads across the New York-to-Boston corridor of roughly 25 million people were impassable.

Cars were entombed by drifts and some people found the wet, heavy snow packed so high against their homes they could not get their doors open.

There was three feet of snow across much of the region, and emergency crews used snowmobiles to reach shivering motorists stranded overnight on New York’s Long Island.

At least five deaths in the US were blamed on the snowstorm, including an 11-year-old boy in Boston who was overcome by carbon monoxide as he sat in a running car to keep warm while his father shovelled snow.

There were also three deaths in Canada.

In southern Ontario, an 80-year-old woman collapsed while shovelling snow from her driveway, and two men were killed in car crashes.

One pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and killed Friday night in Connecticut, and a 23-year-old New York man ploughing his driveway with a tractor went off the edge of the road and was killed.

Blowing with hurricane-force winds of more than 80 mph in places, the storm hit hard along the heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor between New York City and Maine.

Milford, Connecticut, got 38 inches of snow, and Portland, Maine, recorded 31.9 inches, shattering a 1979 record.

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee warned that while the snow had stopped, the danger had not passed.

He said: “People need to take this storm seriously, even after it’s over. If you have any kind of heart condition, be careful with the shovelling.”

The storm was not as bad as the Blizzard of ’78, used by long-time New Englanders as the benchmark by which all other winter storms are measured.

By noon yesterday, the National Weather Service reported preliminary snowfall totals of 24.9 inches in Boston, or fifth on the city’s all-time list.

Concord, New Hampshire, got 24 ins of snow, the second-highest amount on record.

In New York, where Central Park recorded 11 inches, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city “dodged a bullet” and its streets were “in great shape”.

The three major airports – LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark, New Jersey – were up and running by late morning after shutting down the evening before. Boston’s Logan Airport had not resumed operations.

Most of the power cuts were in Massachusetts, where more than 400,000 homes and businesses were left in the dark. In Rhode Island, a peak of around 180,000 customers lost power, or about one-third of the state.

By nightfall, utility crews had started to make significant progress in restoring power and bringing those numbers down.

Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island imposed travel bans until 4pm to keep cars off the road and let snow ploughs do their work.

The National Guard helped clear roads in Connecticut, where more than 240 accidents were reported.

The Guardsmen rescued about 90 motorists, including a few who had hypothermia and were taken to hospitals.

On Long Island, which got more than 2.5 feet of snow, hundreds of drivers spent a cold and scary night stuck on the highways.

Even snowploughs got bogged down or were blocked by stuck cars, so emergency workers used snowmobiles to try to reach motorists, many of whom were still waiting to be rescued hours after the snow had stopped.

At New York’s Fashion Week, women tottered on 4-inch heels through the snow to get to the tents to see designers’ newest collections.

In Massachusetts, the National Guard and Worcester emergency workers teamed up to deliver a baby at the height of the storm at the family’s home. Everyone was fine.

Some spots in Massachusetts had to be evacuated because of coastal flooding, including Salisbury Beach, where around 40 people were ordered out.