NEW YORK – New Yorkers dug out of the sixth biggest snowstorm on record to hit their city and thousands of stranded travellers hoped to finally board long-delayed flights yesterday after a blizzard buried the northeastern coast of America on St Stephen’s Day.
The city’s normally bustling streets were largely empty, many still unploughed, and crippled commuter rail service struggled to resume regular operations after the storm dumped 20 inches (50cm) of snow over a 17-hour period on Sunday and Monday.
New Yorkers complained about storm relief while the city’s fleet of 2,000 snow-ploughing sanitation trucks struggled to clear the city’s 6,000 miles (9,600km) of streets.
After ambulances and city buses got stuck in the snow and many neighbourhoods in the boroughs outside Manhattan had yet to see ploughs, accusations rained in that City Hall failed to prepare for a blizzard that was forecast days in advance.
“I don’t think they were prepared,” April Cuthbert, a materials manager at Brooklyn Hospital, said from the Fort Greene neighbourhood, where stretches of footpaths remained unshovelled, forcing people to walk on the street.
“Manhattan, that’s a money place. They make money in Manhattan,” she added, explaining why her neighbourhood was still snowed under.
On Monday, a New York subway train got stuck on a frozen rail with passengers trapped inside for seven hours.
Times Square was mostly cleared in preparation for Friday night’s New Year’s Eve celebration. Traffic trickled over a thin layer of slush, after the so-called crossroads of the world had almost no cars on Monday when snow was piled high.
Environment Canada has issued a blizzard warning for northeastern New Brunswick and has warned of heavy snow or rain in the rest of the Maritime provinces.
Sixteen inches of snow may fall in New Brunswick, and rain may accompany the snow in Nova Scotia. Winds may gust to 87mph (140 km/h) in eastern Nova Scotia and 80mph in western Newfoundland, the agency said.
Boston, Philadelphia and other cities on the Atlantic Coast also got pummelled with similar snowfall. It is creeping back to life after an extended holiday hiatus when rubbish went uncollected, offices stayed shut and shoppers stayed home on what normally is one of the busiest retail days of the year.
With 4,500 flights cancelled or delayed on Sunday and Monday in New York’s three major airports alone, tens of thousands of passengers camped out in terminals. Airlines could need another day or two to work through the backlog, officials said.
A British Airways jet was left for nearly eight hours on the Tarmac at John F Kennedy International Airport after landing on a flight from London yesterday. The airline blamed gate congestion and a lack of immigration and customs personnel.
"After two hrs in security, only four staff with 500+ passengers, luggage is still on the plane! But its good to be back!" passenger Matthew Bishop, the New York bureau chief for the Economist, tweeted.
In Boston, tens of thousands of customers were left without power after 18.2 inches (46cm) of snow fell.
The city lifted its snow emergency on Monday evening and public transit operated with only minor hitches yesterday. – (Reuters/Bloomberg)