A state of emergency has been declared for the states of New York and New Jersey and some 3,500 flights have been canceled for Saturday.
A snow storm “potentially lethalswept through the northeastern United States on Saturday with terrible gusts of wind, paralyzing transport and the daily life of 70 million inhabitants. Much of the New England region and the eastern part of the country were under a blizzard warning all day, dubbed “cyclone bombby US Weather.
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In a megalopolis of New York deserted and battered by an icy wind, rare passers-by in Times Square covered in snow fell stunned on the famous “naked cowboyalias Robert Burck, a street performer who plays guitar and sings whatever the weather. As usual, he only wore his underpants, his hat and his boots, impassive despite the cold. “Times Square is both magical and chilling“, marveled in front of the AFPTV Bendit Almavit, a resident of New York.
New York Mayor Eric Adams filmed himself Saturday morning in the Bronx borough urging his fellow citizens to stay home and warning that “Mother Nature tends to do what she wants“.
Emergency state
A state of emergency has been declared for the states of New York and New Jersey and New York Governor Kathy Hochul asked to limit travel but still fill cars with gas, water and blankets .
North of the New York metropolis, on Long Island, 25 cm have already accumulated. Regional train lines are partially at a standstill, and a woman was found dead in her car according to local media. In the upscale county of Westchester, north of the Bronx, snowplows have been working since dawn to clear the roads.
The National Weather Service (NWS) forecast wind gusts of 80 to 120 km/h and warned of “nearly impossible travel conditionsin the northeastern United States.
The NWS also predicts polar temperatures in the night from Saturday to Sunday and power cuts, usual every winter when the power of the wind or the weight of the snow tears the power lines.
Thousands of flights canceled
On the transport side, some 3,500 flights have been canceled for Saturday, and 700 already for Sunday, arriving or departing from the country, according to the FlightAware air tracking site.
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In Boston, the great city of New England, the new mayor Michelle Wu warned on television that “the storm was going to be “historical» and “very badand Massachusetts residents rushed to stores to buy shovels to clear the sidewalks, a must. Even in the south, in usually tropical Florida, frost warnings have been issued with the risk of knocking the famous iguanas weighing up to nine kg from their trees.
This snowstorm is already the second of the year in eastern North America, after the one that enveloped regions from Georgia to Quebec in early January.