American Northeast prepares for a 'crippling' snowstorm
January 26, 2015
More than 35 million people will be affected by the storm named Juno, which is expected to dump between up to 90 centimeters (three feet) of snow along the heavily populated East Coast of the United States. The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for a strip of over 400 kilometers (250 miles) of the Northeast, saying that the approaching system would be a "crippling and potentially historic" event.
According to the national weather service, the New York Area could be hit hardest, with winds expected to reach over 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour. Citizens of Boston and Philadelphia were also expected to suffer blizzard conditions.
"It could be a matter of life and death, and that's not being overly dramatic, so caution is required," New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
Cuomo declared a state of emergency and deployed the National Guard in the New York City and Long Island. He also urged motorists to stay at home on Monday night.
'A good book'
Schools across the East Coast dismissed students early on Monday, and canceled classes on Tuesday. State government offices were closed.
Nicole Coelho, 29, a nanny from New Jersey said she was ready to wait out the storm, even in a case of a power outage.
"I'm going to make sure to charge up my cellphone, and I have a good book I haven't gotten around to reading yet," she said.
United Nations closed
Thousands of flights have already been canceled for both Monday and Tuesday, with United Airlines saying it will not fly in Tuesday in New York, Boston or Philadelphia, and American Airlines announcing a "very limited" schedule on Tuesday, in the northeast region of the United States.
The United Nations in New York also closed its headquarters early on Monday, with the storm canceling a commemoration to the 70th since the liberation of Auschwitz on Tuesday.
At the same time, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are set to be open on Tuesday. With most trading being conducted electronically, markets are now affected by the weather only on rare occasions. The last such event was Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.
dj/bw (AFP, AP, Reuters)