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| Situation Update No. 1 Ref.no.: SS-20100207-24830-USA
Situation Update No. 1
On 2010-02-09 at 10:33:43 [UTC]
Event: Snow Storm
Location: USA District of Columbia Washington area Situation: A $US20 cab ride to the airport skyrocketed to the "snow rate" of $US100 in the nation's capital, and those travellers who could get to the airport or train station still had to haggle or wait in long lines to escape the snowbound region. The most pressing matter - get out before more of the white stuff comes on Tuesday. "I'm done with city, urban snow life," said Chris Vaughan, a Washington resident who was able to re-book a flight to go skiing in Utah. He dodged the pricey cab fare by having a friend drop him off at the airport - in exchange for a bottle of wine. The region was still trying to dig out after being buried under nearly one metre of snow in some areas. One scientist said if all the snow that fell on the East Coast were melted, it would fill 12 million Olympic swimming pools or 30,000 Empire State buildings. Philadelphia needed just a little more than 23cm to make it the snowiest winter since 1884, the first year records were kept. Forecasters predicted the snow would start on Tuesday afternoon and continue into Wednesday. Airlines warned travellers more flights would be cancelled and the new storm was expected to hit a wider area, affecting travel in New York and Boston. The storm closed schools and some 230,000 federal workers in Washington had the day off. Power was still out for tens of thousands of homes and businesses. The snowbound US Senate met for a few minutes on Monday to recess for 24 hours. Majority Leader Harry Reid, wearing a V-neck sweater over his usual shirt and tie, said it was difficult to make it to work because many of the streets were still not clear and the subway system was running on a limited basis. Virginia Democrat Mark Warner gavelled the chamber in and out of session. The third senator present was newly sworn in Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown. Officials say it will be several days before they know just how much the cleanup will cost. Maryland had already spent $US50 million of the $US60 million budgeted to keep the snow clear. In DC, officials said they were over their $US6.2 million snow budget even before the storm started. And Pennsylvania officials said they had already spent half of their $US245 million winter operations budget before the storm hit. In West Virginia, these storms may prove to be a budget buster. Before the first flake even fell, the state had spent about 72 percent of its $US54 million snow and ice removal budget, or roughly $US39 million, according to division spokesman Brent Walker. "Seventy-two percent sounds like a lot, especially when the season lasts through March," he said. |  | | | |
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