Northeast cleans up winter storm's mess
Winternieuws uit binnen- en buitenland
Northeast cleans up winter storm's mess
Storyhighlights
• Traffic death toll from storm rises to 10
• Friday's storm forced cancellation of 1,400 flights
• Weather service cancels warnings as storm fades
• New York works to clean up in time for St. Patrick's parade
Kassiani and Edward Siopis dig out their car in Peabody, Massachusetts, on Saturday
NEW YORK (AP) -- Cleanup crews were out early Saturday to clear snow and ice from Manhattan streets in preparation for the city's St. Patrick's Day parade, a day after a heavy storm buffeted the East Coast.
Friday's weather caused the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights and was being blamed for at least ten traffic deaths, authorities said.
The sleet, snow and freezing rain that pelted the East Coast on Friday had tailed off Saturday as the weather system moved northward.
"We got the whole gamut there," Nelson Vaz, a meteorologist with the weather service, said early Saturday. He called the weather "a pretty impressive late-winter storm."
Police work at the scene of an accident in Lower Nazareth, Pennsylvania, on Friday
Eight inches of snow fell at Frostburg, Maryland, with 5 in New York City, and a record 2.13 inches of rain fell at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Up to 2 feet of snow fell in New York's northern Catskills.
The weather was blamed for at least six traffic deaths in New Jersey, three in Pennsylvania and one in Maryland, authorities said.
Hundreds of traffic accidents were blamed on the icy roads, including one involving a vehicle in President Bush's motorcade traveling from Washington to Camp David, Maryland. No one was injured in that accident.
Hundreds of passengers were stranded for hours overnight on airliners that couldn't take off from John F. Kennedy International Airport because of the storm.
JetBlue canceled nearly three-fourths of its scheduled flights on Friday to avoid the criticism and chaos that followed a Valentine's Day storm, when the company was slow to cancel flights and some passengers were stranded in planes for hours.
The airline also called off about 30 flights early Saturday, spokeswoman Jenny Dervin said. But she said JetBlue was expecting few, if any, cancellations after 9 a.m.
American, United, Delta and Continental also canceled flights. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said more than 1,400 flights were canceled Friday at the region's three major airports because of the storm.
At the airport in Newark, New Jersey, Karen Opdyke was trying to get to Miami for a cruise with her husband, three young children and mother after their 9 a.m. flight was canceled.
"We got on the plane, we got off the plane. We got on the plane and off the plane," Opdyke said as she balanced a crying child next to a pile of luggage. She wasn't having any luck rescheduling. "There's nothing available all week."
Campaign stops, St. Patrick's Day parades delayed
In New Hampshire, three presidential hopefuls -- Republican John McCain and Democrats Barack Obama and Chris Dodd -- canceled Friday appearances because of the weather. McCain, Dodd and Democrat Joe Biden were campaigning in the state Saturday.
Pedestrians walk in heavy snow in Boston on Friday.
The storm also forced school cancellations throughout the Northeast and prompted some government agencies to send workers home early.
In Hartford, Connecticut, and York, Pennsylvania, officials postponed their annual St. Patrick's Day parades. New York officials expected up to 2 million people to attend the parade there.
Winter officially ends at the vernal equinox Tuesday evening, but climatologists said it was not unusual for storms to arrive well into March.
"Usually you have the biggest storms in March," said meteorologist Kevin Lipton in Albany, New York.
On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that this winter was the warmest worldwide since record keeping began in 1880.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
• Traffic death toll from storm rises to 10
• Friday's storm forced cancellation of 1,400 flights
• Weather service cancels warnings as storm fades
• New York works to clean up in time for St. Patrick's parade
Kassiani and Edward Siopis dig out their car in Peabody, Massachusetts, on Saturday
NEW YORK (AP) -- Cleanup crews were out early Saturday to clear snow and ice from Manhattan streets in preparation for the city's St. Patrick's Day parade, a day after a heavy storm buffeted the East Coast.
Friday's weather caused the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights and was being blamed for at least ten traffic deaths, authorities said.
The sleet, snow and freezing rain that pelted the East Coast on Friday had tailed off Saturday as the weather system moved northward.
"We got the whole gamut there," Nelson Vaz, a meteorologist with the weather service, said early Saturday. He called the weather "a pretty impressive late-winter storm."
Police work at the scene of an accident in Lower Nazareth, Pennsylvania, on Friday
Eight inches of snow fell at Frostburg, Maryland, with 5 in New York City, and a record 2.13 inches of rain fell at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Up to 2 feet of snow fell in New York's northern Catskills.
The weather was blamed for at least six traffic deaths in New Jersey, three in Pennsylvania and one in Maryland, authorities said.
Hundreds of traffic accidents were blamed on the icy roads, including one involving a vehicle in President Bush's motorcade traveling from Washington to Camp David, Maryland. No one was injured in that accident.
Hundreds of passengers were stranded for hours overnight on airliners that couldn't take off from John F. Kennedy International Airport because of the storm.
JetBlue canceled nearly three-fourths of its scheduled flights on Friday to avoid the criticism and chaos that followed a Valentine's Day storm, when the company was slow to cancel flights and some passengers were stranded in planes for hours.
The airline also called off about 30 flights early Saturday, spokeswoman Jenny Dervin said. But she said JetBlue was expecting few, if any, cancellations after 9 a.m.
American, United, Delta and Continental also canceled flights. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said more than 1,400 flights were canceled Friday at the region's three major airports because of the storm.
At the airport in Newark, New Jersey, Karen Opdyke was trying to get to Miami for a cruise with her husband, three young children and mother after their 9 a.m. flight was canceled.
"We got on the plane, we got off the plane. We got on the plane and off the plane," Opdyke said as she balanced a crying child next to a pile of luggage. She wasn't having any luck rescheduling. "There's nothing available all week."
Campaign stops, St. Patrick's Day parades delayed
In New Hampshire, three presidential hopefuls -- Republican John McCain and Democrats Barack Obama and Chris Dodd -- canceled Friday appearances because of the weather. McCain, Dodd and Democrat Joe Biden were campaigning in the state Saturday.
Pedestrians walk in heavy snow in Boston on Friday.
The storm also forced school cancellations throughout the Northeast and prompted some government agencies to send workers home early.
In Hartford, Connecticut, and York, Pennsylvania, officials postponed their annual St. Patrick's Day parades. New York officials expected up to 2 million people to attend the parade there.
Winter officially ends at the vernal equinox Tuesday evening, but climatologists said it was not unusual for storms to arrive well into March.
"Usually you have the biggest storms in March," said meteorologist Kevin Lipton in Albany, New York.
On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that this winter was the warmest worldwide since record keeping began in 1880.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
Every cloud has a silver lining
Storyhighlights
• Passengers say there seemed to be a shortage of deicing fluid at JFK airport
• One angry flyer says he sat on grounded plane for more than nine hours
• Not clear how many planes spent hours stuck on tarmac at JFK
• JetBlue had similar problems last month; canceled many of its flights Friday
Ground crews work on a plane at LaGuardia Airport on Friday.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Hundreds of passengers were stranded for hours overnight on airliners that couldn't take off from John F. Kennedy International Airport because of the ice and snow storm that pummeled the Northeast.
The exact number of planes stuck on the tarmac was unclear, but irate passengers reported that the problems seemed to affect several airlines, and may have been linked to shortages of deicing fluid at the airport.
Rahul Chandran said he was trapped aboard a Cathay Pacific Airways jet from midnight until nearly 9:30 a.m. Saturday, when the flight to Vancouver was finally canceled.
Throughout the night, the pilot repeatedly described problems with deicing equipment, including a lack of fluid, that kept the plane waiting endlessly to have its wings sprayed. When the airline finally gave up and tried to return the plane to its terminal, it took at least another hour to arrange a gate, he said.
"You can't keep your passengers on the plane for 91/2 hours," said Chandran, 30, of New York City. "They kept saying 'half an hour more, 45 minutes more.' But by the time it got to hour six, we were pretty much accepting that we weren't going to go ... At least in the terminal, you can get up and walk around."
Planes sit on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport on Friday.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the metropolitan area's airports, said airlines -- not the airport -- are responsible for supplying and maintaining terminal deicing equipment.
From Friday to Saturday morning, more than 3,600 commuter and mainline flights were canceled because of the effects of the storm. JetBlue, US Airways, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines all reported cancellations.
One Virgin Atlantic flight from London was diverted to JFK when the weather temporarily closed Boston's airport Friday evening. The plane, with about 200 passengers on board, sat on a taxiway for around six hours before it could take off again, said Virgin spokeswoman Brooke Lawer.
The plane, which was supposed to have arrived in Boston at 6:30 p.m. Friday, finally touched down there at 4 a.m. Saturday.
Last month, JetBlue stranded passengers on several planes for up to 101/2 hours during the Valentine's Day storm. The airline was unable to resume normal operations for days.
For this storm, JetBlue took no chances of a repeat. It canceled about 400 of 550 scheduled flights across the country Friday because of the weather, rather than risk leaving more people stuck aboard idle planes.
JetBlue expected mostly normal operations Saturday, said spokeswoman Jenny Dervin.
Friday's snow, ice and rain storm closed schools in parts of the Northeast and made highways treacherous. The weather was blamed for nearly a dozen traffic deaths in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press
• Passengers say there seemed to be a shortage of deicing fluid at JFK airport
• One angry flyer says he sat on grounded plane for more than nine hours
• Not clear how many planes spent hours stuck on tarmac at JFK
• JetBlue had similar problems last month; canceled many of its flights Friday
Ground crews work on a plane at LaGuardia Airport on Friday.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Hundreds of passengers were stranded for hours overnight on airliners that couldn't take off from John F. Kennedy International Airport because of the ice and snow storm that pummeled the Northeast.
The exact number of planes stuck on the tarmac was unclear, but irate passengers reported that the problems seemed to affect several airlines, and may have been linked to shortages of deicing fluid at the airport.
Rahul Chandran said he was trapped aboard a Cathay Pacific Airways jet from midnight until nearly 9:30 a.m. Saturday, when the flight to Vancouver was finally canceled.
Throughout the night, the pilot repeatedly described problems with deicing equipment, including a lack of fluid, that kept the plane waiting endlessly to have its wings sprayed. When the airline finally gave up and tried to return the plane to its terminal, it took at least another hour to arrange a gate, he said.
"You can't keep your passengers on the plane for 91/2 hours," said Chandran, 30, of New York City. "They kept saying 'half an hour more, 45 minutes more.' But by the time it got to hour six, we were pretty much accepting that we weren't going to go ... At least in the terminal, you can get up and walk around."
Planes sit on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport on Friday.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the metropolitan area's airports, said airlines -- not the airport -- are responsible for supplying and maintaining terminal deicing equipment.
From Friday to Saturday morning, more than 3,600 commuter and mainline flights were canceled because of the effects of the storm. JetBlue, US Airways, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines all reported cancellations.
One Virgin Atlantic flight from London was diverted to JFK when the weather temporarily closed Boston's airport Friday evening. The plane, with about 200 passengers on board, sat on a taxiway for around six hours before it could take off again, said Virgin spokeswoman Brooke Lawer.
The plane, which was supposed to have arrived in Boston at 6:30 p.m. Friday, finally touched down there at 4 a.m. Saturday.
Last month, JetBlue stranded passengers on several planes for up to 101/2 hours during the Valentine's Day storm. The airline was unable to resume normal operations for days.
For this storm, JetBlue took no chances of a repeat. It canceled about 400 of 550 scheduled flights across the country Friday because of the weather, rather than risk leaving more people stuck aboard idle planes.
JetBlue expected mostly normal operations Saturday, said spokeswoman Jenny Dervin.
Friday's snow, ice and rain storm closed schools in parts of the Northeast and made highways treacherous. The weather was blamed for nearly a dozen traffic deaths in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press
Every cloud has a silver lining
Het winterweer in het noordoosten van de Verenigde Staten heeft aan zeker zes mensen het leven gekost. De sneeuwdepressie trof vooral New York, New Jersey, West Virginia en Pennsylvania.
In Maryland viel 15 centimeter sneeuw, in Pennsylvanië 51 centimeter en in de staat New York 60 centimeter. In de stad New York zelf lag 13 centimeter.
Het winterweer ontregelde het dagelijks leven. Zo'n 1500 vluchten werden geannuleerd, wegen kenden files vanwege de vele verkeersongelukken en scholen werden gesloten.
Volgens de Amerikaanse meteoroloog Kevin Lipton is sneeuw in maart niet ongebruikelijk. De zwaarste sneeuwstormen komen juist in maart voor vertelde hij aan de Associated Press.
©vwkweb.nl
In Maryland viel 15 centimeter sneeuw, in Pennsylvanië 51 centimeter en in de staat New York 60 centimeter. In de stad New York zelf lag 13 centimeter.
Het winterweer ontregelde het dagelijks leven. Zo'n 1500 vluchten werden geannuleerd, wegen kenden files vanwege de vele verkeersongelukken en scholen werden gesloten.
Volgens de Amerikaanse meteoroloog Kevin Lipton is sneeuw in maart niet ongebruikelijk. De zwaarste sneeuwstormen komen juist in maart voor vertelde hij aan de Associated Press.
©vwkweb.nl
Every cloud has a silver lining
Storyhighlights
• Computer problems, airline staffing rules kept backlog on US Airways flights
• US Airways operates two-thirds of 1,200 daily flights in Philadelphia
• NY Port Authority: Scattered two hour delays at JFK, LaGuardia airports
• Sunday: US Airways' system-wide available 275,000 seats nearly sold out
Passengers wait in lines wrapping around the Charlotte-Douglas airport after weather forces large numbers of cancellations.
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Thousands of weary travelers spent a third day waiting to reach their destinations Sunday as US Airways struggled to recover from the ice and snow storm that paralyzed airports in the Northeast.
Early Sunday the airline was trying to find seats for 100,000 passengers system-wide.
The waiting time in lines in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a US Airways hub, was down to 30 to 45 minutes by Sunday night, spokeswoman Andrea Rader said. Waiting times were also better at the airline's hub in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"The lines are down to what is normal for a holiday weekend," Rader said.
Computer problems, airline staffing rules and other problems slowed US Airways' attempts to clear the backlog. In addition, the airline's flights on Sunday were nearly sold out with 275,000 passengers booked, the airline said.
Airline officials were trying to round up spare planes and crew members to work on added flights. Rader said the company hoped to be back to near normal Monday.
Passengers in Philadelphia reported waiting three hours or more to rebook tickets or reach a reservation agent by phone during the weekend. Automated US Airways kiosks at Philadelphia International Airport were also down at times, they said.
US Airways operates two-thirds of the approximately 1,200 daily flights in Philadelphia.
People spend the night in the airport as they wait for flights out of the Charlotte-Douglas airport, Saturday.
Many waiting travelers were stranded at the airport. Disposable blankets and pillows were handed out to several hundred people Saturday night, down from an estimated 1,000 or more people the night before, a spokeswoman said.
"Once the passengers were rebooked and going through security, they were moving them (through) pretty quickly," airport spokeswoman Phyllis VanIstendal said Sunday.
Dan Stacey, 34, of Philadelphia was at the airport Sunday trying to find his luggage. An Irish fiddler, Stacy had tried to fly Friday to Phoenix, Arizona, to perform in St. Patrick's Day concerts.
Instead, he said, he sat in a US Airways plane on the Philadelphia tarmac for hours. He then went back home -- but found out Sunday that his luggage went to Phoenix, anyway.
"I lamented the fact that I was the only Irish musician in America not working on St. Patty's day," Stacey said.
There were also long lines at US Airways ticket counters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sunday because of cancellations and delays at other airports, said JoAnn Jenny, spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Airport Authority.
"It's just a busy time of year with spring break ... and then with that storm -- that really put a wrench in the works for a lot of folks," Jenny said.
The storm stranded hundreds of passengers at New York's Kennedy International Airport, including hundreds stuck on planes Friday night as aircraft were unable to take off or find space at gates.
By Sunday, there were only scattered delays of up to two hours at New York's Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, with some delays of up five hours at Newark Liberty, said Alan Hicks, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
People try to maintain their sense of humor as they wait for hours at the Charlotte-Douglas airport
From Friday to Saturday morning, more than 3,600 commuter and mainline flights were canceled nationwide because of the storm. JetBlue, US Airways, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines all reported cancellations.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
• Computer problems, airline staffing rules kept backlog on US Airways flights
• US Airways operates two-thirds of 1,200 daily flights in Philadelphia
• NY Port Authority: Scattered two hour delays at JFK, LaGuardia airports
• Sunday: US Airways' system-wide available 275,000 seats nearly sold out
Passengers wait in lines wrapping around the Charlotte-Douglas airport after weather forces large numbers of cancellations.
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Thousands of weary travelers spent a third day waiting to reach their destinations Sunday as US Airways struggled to recover from the ice and snow storm that paralyzed airports in the Northeast.
Early Sunday the airline was trying to find seats for 100,000 passengers system-wide.
The waiting time in lines in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a US Airways hub, was down to 30 to 45 minutes by Sunday night, spokeswoman Andrea Rader said. Waiting times were also better at the airline's hub in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"The lines are down to what is normal for a holiday weekend," Rader said.
Computer problems, airline staffing rules and other problems slowed US Airways' attempts to clear the backlog. In addition, the airline's flights on Sunday were nearly sold out with 275,000 passengers booked, the airline said.
Airline officials were trying to round up spare planes and crew members to work on added flights. Rader said the company hoped to be back to near normal Monday.
Passengers in Philadelphia reported waiting three hours or more to rebook tickets or reach a reservation agent by phone during the weekend. Automated US Airways kiosks at Philadelphia International Airport were also down at times, they said.
US Airways operates two-thirds of the approximately 1,200 daily flights in Philadelphia.
People spend the night in the airport as they wait for flights out of the Charlotte-Douglas airport, Saturday.
Many waiting travelers were stranded at the airport. Disposable blankets and pillows were handed out to several hundred people Saturday night, down from an estimated 1,000 or more people the night before, a spokeswoman said.
"Once the passengers were rebooked and going through security, they were moving them (through) pretty quickly," airport spokeswoman Phyllis VanIstendal said Sunday.
Dan Stacey, 34, of Philadelphia was at the airport Sunday trying to find his luggage. An Irish fiddler, Stacy had tried to fly Friday to Phoenix, Arizona, to perform in St. Patrick's Day concerts.
Instead, he said, he sat in a US Airways plane on the Philadelphia tarmac for hours. He then went back home -- but found out Sunday that his luggage went to Phoenix, anyway.
"I lamented the fact that I was the only Irish musician in America not working on St. Patty's day," Stacey said.
There were also long lines at US Airways ticket counters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sunday because of cancellations and delays at other airports, said JoAnn Jenny, spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Airport Authority.
"It's just a busy time of year with spring break ... and then with that storm -- that really put a wrench in the works for a lot of folks," Jenny said.
The storm stranded hundreds of passengers at New York's Kennedy International Airport, including hundreds stuck on planes Friday night as aircraft were unable to take off or find space at gates.
By Sunday, there were only scattered delays of up to two hours at New York's Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, with some delays of up five hours at Newark Liberty, said Alan Hicks, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
People try to maintain their sense of humor as they wait for hours at the Charlotte-Douglas airport
From Friday to Saturday morning, more than 3,600 commuter and mainline flights were canceled nationwide because of the storm. JetBlue, US Airways, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines all reported cancellations.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
Every cloud has a silver lining
