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States Deal With a Variety of Issues After Historic Blizzard


IMG_9949From getting the most snow to treacherous Monday morning commutes, here’s a look at how states along the East Coast are digging out from the weekend blizzard.

NEW JERSEY

State officials say they are moving forward to replenish New Jersey beaches that were impacted by the monster snowstorm.

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and state Environmental Protection Department Commissioner Bob Martin toured several coastal sites on Monday to get a first-hand look at the erosion and other damage the weekend storm caused.

Martin said the Army Corps of Engineers was doing an assessment of the state’s coast, noting that state officials have already told corps officials that they will be seeking funds to replenish beaches and complete other needed work.

Several southern Jersey towns suffered major damage from the storm.

Flooding was a big problem in the region, affecting hundreds of homes and businesses. And parts of a bulkhead were damaged in Atlantic City.

NEW YORK

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio encouraged people to leave their plowed-in cars all week after a one-day record of 26.6 inches of snow fell in Central Park. New York’s transit authority said partial service on the Long Island Rail Road was restored on three of its 12 branches and diesel train service was operating on three other branches. The problems were due to switches and tracks that were refrozen overnight. New York City subways, buses and Metro-North Railroad service were operating on a normal schedule Monday.

Snow-covered cars and driveways blocked by snow from plows are causing headaches for many New Yorkers. Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, resident Peter Quamina (kwuh-MEE’-nuh) said Monday that he spent hours over the weekend shoveling out the front of his driveway only for it to be blocked again by sanitation plows.

NORTH CAROLINA

Thousands of people in North Carolina still have no electricity. Duke Energy reported more than 11,000 customers were without service early Monday. At least six people have died from the storm in the state, all from traffic accidents.

PENNSYLVANIA

The snowstorm crippled a stretch of the Pennsylvania turnpike, stranding more than 500 vehicles on a 16-mile stretch in Somerset and Bedford counties, about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The Capitol complex in Harrisburg and the Philadelphia and Reading state office buildings were closed for non-essential employees. Many schools were closed Monday because crews were still clearing local roads. Commuters who ride buses were to expect delays along snow-covered streets.

VIRGINIA

People in Virginia ventured out Monday to deal with the aftermath of a storm that dumped more than 3 feet in some places.

The weekend’s picturesque winter wonderland gave way to a slushy mixture of salt and sand and melting snow in cities and suburbs as temperatures climbed into the 40s. Virginia State Police reminded motorists emboldened by the progress of sunshine and snowplows that highways would remain wet and slippery as snow piled high on the shoulders continued to melt.

For many Virginians, though, the improving conditions meant goodbye to cabin fever and the start of a return to routine.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin was trying to get back to Washington on Monday morning, but the Illinois Democrat doesn’t know if he’ll be able to make it.

“Most of us who spend part of our lives in Washington know to expect the worst when it comes to snow,” he said. “I knew the forecast was enough to cause a problem.”

Federal offices were closed Monday and officials asked people to stay off roads as the cleanup continued.

Reagan National Airport tweeted that it saw its first flights Monday. Dulles International Airport expected to resume flights Monday. Flights resumed at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport on Sunday.

The zoo remained closed but a video of its giant panda Tian Tian making snow angels got tens of millions of views.

WEST VIRGINIA

It wasn’t quite like winning Powerball, yet the small West Virginia town of Glengary is getting a lot of attention for receiving the most snow from the recent storm: 42 inches.

“Yeah, it’s cool. That’s about it,” said Robert Bragg, who owns a heating and cooling business in the unincorporated town about 80 miles northwest of Washington. “We’ve still got to clear the snow. The notoriety doesn’t help get rid of it.”

Glengary has a couple hundred residents and a few intersections. The nearest gas station and grocery store are about 8 miles away. Over the weekend, they might as well have been in another state. Nobody could go anywhere.

“I was not prepared for this,” said Josh Kief, who owns a towing business and a home contracting firm in Glengary.

(AP)



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