NEW YORK (Reuters) – A blizzard battered the northeastern United States on Saturday, blanketed in a deep layer of snow reaching more than 60 centimeters in places and forcing the governors of the states of New York, New Jersey or Massachusetts declare a state of emergency.
The storm formed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Carolinas and was expected to continue dumping snow into the evening as it moved north.
According to Marc Chenard, meteorologist at the National Weather Service, the coastal areas will be the most affected by the climatic phenomenon and the violent winds could cause flooding in localities close to the shore.
Nearly 6,000 flights had to be canceled for the weekend and Amtrack suspended rail services in most affected areas.
Power outages remained limited with the exception of Massachusetts where 114,000 homes out of 2.6 million customers were left without power, according to PowerOutage US.
The blizzard may have been the cause of the death of a woman found dead in her car Saturday morning in a parking lot at a hotel in Uniondale, New York, police said.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said the blizzard could be among the biggest in decades, 44 years after the 1978 blizzard that buried the city in 70cm of snow, killed dozens across the city. New England and blocked all major highways for a week.
(Report Caitlin Ochs; French version Jean-Stphane Brosse)