Snowstorms Continue to Wreak Havoc in US Northeast Coast

Washington (PNA/Xinhua) – The snowstorms that started Monday evening across the U.S. northeast coast continued to ravage the region Tuesday, with millions of people living in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and other metropolises in the area affected.

The snowstorm continued to smack eastern Long Island in the state of New York, as well as states of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts till Tuesday noon.

According to U.S. National Weather Service forecasters, the tough weather is expected to continue into early Wednesday morning in Boston, Massachusetts, where there was about 50 centimeters of snowfall already on the ground there.

But meteorologists in the country were apologizing Tuesday morning after the so-called “Storm of the Century” proved to be less destructive than predicted.

Blizzard warnings that called for up to 3 feet, or about 91.44 centimeters, to fall in New York City led officials to close schools, cancel flights and institute a statewide travel ban. But the snowstorm did not pummel parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania with the same punch that forecasters had predicted.

In New York City, only about 6 inches, or 15.24 cm fell at the famed Central Park by early Tuesday, far less than the record snowfall of 26.9 inches, or 68.33 cm from 2006.

So far, governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut lifted travel bans they had imposed a day earlier and New York City’s subway system resumed service after being closed for 10 hours, but officials urged people to stay off snow-covered roadways.

In Boston, the subways would remain closed for at least the rest of the day since there is still heavy snow piled in some places of the city.

Meanwhile, local police reported that high tides breached a seawall in Marshfield, Massachusetts, about 50 kilometers south of Boston. The police have urged residents of the area to evacuate before the next high tide, expected later Tuesday.

Outside Boston, the heaviest snowfall of more than 70 cm has recorded in Auburn and Framingham, also in Massachusetts, leaving a lot of homes and businesses without power.

In addition, more than 4,700 scheduled flights were canceled Tuesday in the country, according to FlightAware.com, with more than 80 percent of the canceled flights occurring at airports in Greater New York City Area, Philadelphia and Boston. (PNA/Xinhua) FPV/EBP