Flights cancelled as severe storm hits eastern US

(RTE)

A rare winter storm has hit the US southeast bringing Florida’s capital its first snow in three decades and disrupting travel.

The governors of Florida, Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina declared states of emergency, warning residents to expect icy roads and unseasonable freezing temperatures.

The weather service said its Tallahassee office had measured snow and sleet accumulation of 2.5mm on its roof, the first snow in Florida’s capital since 1989.

Elsewhere, states across New England are braced for a “bombogenesis” blizzard forecast to bring heavy snow.

It has led to widespread disruption to travel with Aer Lingus cancelling four flights between Boston and Dublin and Shannon.

The airline said it did not expect any further disruption to its North American services but it has asked passengers to check the status of their flight before arriving at the airport.

Much of the eastern US is in the grips of a sustained cold spell that has frozen parts of Niagara Falls on the American and Canadian sides.

It has played havoc with public works causing pipes to freeze and water mains to burst, and impeded firefighting in places where temperatures barely broke 20F (-6C).

The cold has been blamed for at least nine deaths over the past few days, including two homeless people in Houston.

The National Weather Service predicted New York could see 20cm of snow and wind gusts as high as 80km/h.

Blizzard warnings are in effect from Virginia to Maine, with areas around Boston expected to see about a 30cm of snow.

Snow would fall quickly during the day, with the storm intensified by the “bombogenesis” effect, private forecaster Accuweather warned.

“Bombogenesis” also known as a “bomb cyclone,” occurs when a storm’s barometric pressure drops by 24 millibars in 24 hours, greatly strengthening the storm.

Elsewhere, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has warned people in the eastern part of the state to stay indoors if possible and to keep pets indoors.

“If they can’t get in the heat, they’ll freeze to death and they’ll be gone,” he said. “And the same thing will happen to people. So you have to be careful about that.”

The wintry mix and low wind chills caused widespread power outages and icy roads, making commuting dangerous for millions of Americans from northern Florida to southern Virginia.

The storm was starting to affect air travel in the southern US, with about 50% of flights cancelled at airports in South Carolina’s Charleston and Myrtle Beach and Savannah, Georgia.