|
 As the storm blew out with a last salvo of thunder snow and
lightning, the death toll rose to at least 20, including a
36-year-old pregnant woman killed by a snow plow in a Brooklyn
parking lot. Her baby boy remained in critical but stable condition,
a New York City Police spokeswoman said.
Snowfall measured 28.5 inches in Pilot, Virginia, about 200 miles
west of Richmond, said Chris Vaccaro, spokesman for the National
Weather Service. A new storm system was on its way, expected to dump
up to 3 inches on the East Coast into Saturday, he said.
Across the South, hundreds of thousands of people were still without
power on Friday as the result of broken tree limbs stressed by heavy
snow and thick layers of ice falling onto power lines. South
Carolina customers may not be back to normal service until late
Sunday, said Duke Energy spokeswoman Jennifer Jabon.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike was shut for more than seven hours while
it was cleared of twisted metal from up to 50 vehicles in multiple
accidents that injured 27 people, said Renee Vid Colborn, a
spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. The injuries
were not life-threatening, she said.
About 1,700 U.S. flights were canceled and roughly 6,600 were
delayed on Friday, said flight-tracking website FlightAware.com.
The heavy snow this winter has depleted U.S. stocks of road salt,
and Connecticut, hit by 12 storms, requested federal assistance to
help make up its shortfall.
In New Jersey, more than a foot of snow caused roofs to collapse at
a sports complex in Waldwick and at a supermarket in New Milford,
authorities said.
"AS GOOD AS IT GETS"
But outdoor enthusiasts like dog-sled guide Laura Bedortha of Husky
Works Mushing Co in West Wardsboro, Vermont, were gratified by the
weather.
In Jackman, Maine, up near the Canadian border, Bishop's Store
welcomed a steady stream of snowmobilers lining up for gas and
breakfast sandwiches.
"This storm couldn't have come at a better time," said owner
Lorraine Levesque.
The $350 million snowmobile industry, which also does its part to
fill hotel beds and restaurants, desperately needed the snow in a
winter marked by freeze-thaw cycles in January and more rain than
snow.
"This is as good as it gets before the vacation week," said Bob
Meyers, spokesman for the Maine Snowmobile Association, referring to
the Presidents Day holiday on Monday.
His sentiments were echoed in the online ski report posted by The
Waterville Valley Resort in New Hampshire: "Forget whatever it was
you were supposed to do this weekend and make your way up here."
Snow days for schoolchildren troubled parents scrambling for
childcare and school administrators who had to look at ways to
extend the calendar into summer to make up for lost classroom time.
[to top of second column] |
BYPASSING BOUQUETS
The white stuff made Valentine's Day gift vendors see red. The
number of flower deliveries that Luis Martinez made for employer
Langdon Florist in downtown Manhattan was slashed in half compared
with last year.
"Business is down because of the weather," he said, navigating pools
of melting snow while carrying a bouquet of roses.
Darryl Rallis, 49, a third-generation wholesale flower vendor in New
York, estimated he had sold a quarter of the flowers he normally
sells on Valentine's Day, typically the year's biggest single day
sales for florists, according to the Wholesale Flowers and Florists
Association.
The chill was felt all the way to Colombia and Ecuador, which are
the major suppliers for Cupid in America.
"The problem is Washington and places like that, which are affected
by consumers' staying indoors," said Jairo Cadavid, spokesman for
the Association of Colombian Flower Exporters, Asocolflores.
Valentine's Day flower exports to the United States from Ecuador are
down between 12 percent and 14 percent from last year, said a
spokesman for the Association of Flower Producers and Exporters,
Expoflores.
Flour was flying at Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, made famous by the
popular American reality show Cake Boss, as bakers scrambled to meet
requests for sweet stuff a day after the storm closed all of its
four locations.
"We're working twice as hard today to meet the demands of
yesterday," said bakery spokesman Adam Bourcier.
Friday's blue skies and temperatures in the 40s in the New York City
area belied a previous night of thunder snow and electrical storms
in New Jersey. A bolt of lightning struck a Spirit Airlines plane
flying from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but it was able to land safely
at its destination, Atlantic City International Airport, said
airline spokesman Jim Lynde.
In Georgia, it was estimated that 5 million of the state's 25
million acres of forestland were damaged by the storm, said James
Johnson, forest management chief with the Georgia Forestry
Commission.
(Additional reporting by Chris Francescani and Marina Lopes in New
York, Dave Sherwood in Maine, Daniel Kelley in Pennsylvania, David
Jones in New Jersey, Karen Brooks in Texas, Harriet McLeod in South
Carolina, Richard Weizel in Connecticut, David Beasley in Georgia,
Colleen Jenkins in North Carolina, Peter Murphy in Colombia and
Alexandra Valencia in Ecuador; editing by Gunna Dickson and Prudence
Crowther)
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