Snowed-in workers get time off

Washington:  Scores of workers in the snowy Mid-Atlantic region were given yesterday off to shovel out from a blizzard that buried some areas in nearly three feet of snow as another, smaller storm loomed.

While the weekend winter blast offered prime sledging and snowball-hurling for many, stranded travellers and those struggling with no electricity wondered when they'd escape the icy, grey mess.

Federal agencies that employ 230,000 in Washington were closed yesterday, as were many businesses and school districts across the region.

Crews ploughing streets and homeowners shovelling their walkways faced the possibility of another storm adding to the work. The National Weather Service issued a storm watch for the Washington area on Tuesday, saying there was potential for another 12 centimetres or more of snow. Forecasters expect highs around freezing for the next few days, though sunshine yesterday should have helped melt some of the snow, said weather service meteorologist Bryan Jackson.

Novelty wears off

The sight of cross-country skiers cascading down monument steps and flying snowballs has since given way to images of people hunched over snow shovels or huddled next to fires.

John and Nicole Ebrahim and their two-year-old son, Joshua, have been without power at their suburban Washington home in Silver Spring, Maryland, since 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 said.

The National Weather Service called the storm "historic" and reported a foot of snow in parts of Ohio and two feet or more in Washington, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Parts of Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia got closer to three feet.

12-hour shifts

Eric Berry, a plough driver for Baltimore, said he worked 12-hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday. He said overanxious residents were sometimes hindering his ability to clear secondary roads.

"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, 72 centimetres of snow fell during the storm, just shy of the record 77.5 centimetres during a January 1996 blizzard. Snow totals were even higher to the west in Pennsylvania.