Northeast Copes With Snow, Wind And Surging Tides

It's the kind of storm that even forces snowplow crews back inside.

A massive weather system has dumped two feet of snow on Massachusetts, and more than a foot and a-half in coastal Connecticut, New York's Catskills and Rhode Island.

Blustery winds are causing drifts up to six feet high in Massachusetts, leading to poor visibility for travelers and power outages for those at home. The governors of Massachusetts and Rhode Island have each declared a state of emergency.

Airports and thousands of travelers were hit hard, as hundreds of weekend flights were canceled. Ripple effects from the weather in Chicago, Detroit, Boston and New York also led to flight cancellations as far south as Florida.

And it's not over yet. Blizzard warnings are posted into this afternoon in parts of New England, eastern New York state and northern New Jersey.

Temperatures in Maine dipped as low as 39 below zero, and 50-mile-an-hour winds in New York City have hampered visibility.

On the roads, the New Jersey Turnpike has banned big rigs and motorcycles, and the speed limit has been slashed to 30 mph in some places.

Meanwhile, in Connecticut, some coastal towns are bracing for flooding in anticipation of a storm surge. More than 100 National Guardsman on standby in the state.

The National Weather Service said central Connecticut could expect about 16 inches of snow by the time the storm ends Sunday evening.

Coastal Connecticut already had about 18 inches of snow with wind gusts greater than 50 mph. Officials said about 900 people were without power in Connecticut early Sunday morning.

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell was urging people to stay home to give road crews a chance to clean the roads.

An army of snow removers is digging out New York City, which remains under a blizzard warning until later Sunday. Residents have been advised to keep off the road all weekend to allow clearing of the area's 6,300 miles of roadway. The National Weather Service says the storm carries a potential for up to 18 inches of snow.

The mayor's goal is to have everything in New York City cleared up by Monday morning's rush hour.

Authorities said nearly 500 flights were canceled this morning at the New York area's Newark, Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. That's in addition to about 700 grounded Saturday. In addition, trains serving northern suburbs are on reduced schedules.

But for people who didn't have to get somewhere, the weather offered a welcome break. One New York City resident said the weather slows down the city, blanketing "a lot of the unpleasantness."

In Massachusetts, blizzard and flood warnings remained in effect. Plymouth, Mass., reported wind gusts of 62 mph and Providence, Mass., wind gusts of 53 mph as the storm pummeled the state. Several roads were closed, as was Logan International Airport in Boston.

Many residents of Nantucket Island, off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, are cut off from the outside world.

Winds as high as 84 mph knocked out power to the entire island, and heavy snow drifted over most roads, making them impassable.

Emergency officials have taken residents to a shelter at the high school and the island hospital. An island firefighter said the most pressing concern for many people is whether the shelter had access to Sunday's AFC championship game, in which the New England Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said it will likely take several days to dig out from the storm and he canceled school on both Monday and Tuesday for Boston Public School students. He also said there will be no trash pickup in the city on Monday.

The National Weather service said a storm surge of around 3 feet and waves of 25 to 35 feet just off the east coast will result in coastal flooding along Massachusetts' east coast during the morning high tide. A number of shore roads were expected to become impassable for a time Sunday and a few structures may be damaged by the large breakers hitting the shore.

Gov. Mitt Romney called for a state of emergency Saturday afternoon just as the snow began to fall, urging residents to stay off the roads. "The snow is falling not in inches but in feet, we also have a full moon and that means a tidal surge," he said. "Shelters are being opened and the reason we're activating the National Guard is to be able to help in sheltering people who need to evacuate and find themselves on higher ground," Romney said.