Southern storm hits nation’s capital en route to East Coast
WASHINGTON (AP) — The season’s first major snow storm to blast large parts of the South struck early Tuesday at the nation’s capital, poised to head up the winter-weary East Coast.
After weeks of snow in the Northeast, the mid-February storm raked several Southern states Monday, when many schools and business were closed for Presidents Day. By Tuesday morning, it was moving into the Mid-Atlantic states, prompting the federal government to close Washington-area offices to most workers.
The federal government’s closure, the first of the winter, was expected to keep tens of thousands of commuters off the roads and rails Tuesday morning and afternoon. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management said nonemergency personnel in the Washington area had excused absences while emergency employees and telework-ready employees were to follow their agencies’ policies.
A winter storm warning remained in effect for the Washington area until noon Tuesday with the National Weather Service predicting 6 to 8 inches of snow. Forecasters said the heaviest snow would be falling in the early hours before lightening up between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m.
The storm initially moved across Arkansas and Kentucky, dispersing snow, sleet and freezing rain that prompted power outages, fender benders and other woes before heading across North Carolina and Virginia toward the East Coast.
In North Carolina schools let out early Monday and more classes were cancel Tuesday as the storm pummeled the eastern half of the state.
In central Kentucky, home to the state’s signature thoroughbred industry, horses kept warm by galloping through deep snow, pausing occasionally to shake it off from their thick winter coats. Ned Toffey, general manager of Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, said the horses enjoy running in the snow because it gives them a nice cushion as opposed to the packed earth.
But many folks weren’t quite ready for the winter blast.
RL Doss said he had already used his 1987 GMC Suburban — which can haul up to three-quarters of a ton with ropes and chains — to rescue several people and their cars on the hills surrounding Frankfort, Kentucky, on Monday. Cars were fishtailing and sliding off the slick roads.
“I look at it this way. Everybody is trying to get out, to get their last bit of food and stuff, getting home from work and people leaving for work and stuff, and it happens,” he said, shivering inf tan overalls pulled over a hooded sweat shirt.
Roads were brined and parking lots salted as officials tried to avoid a disastrous repeat of last year’s February storm, when rush-hour traffic and a thin coating ice combined to leave people either stuck in their cars or their cars abandoned in roads as they walked home in Atlanta and Raleigh, North Carolina. That storm had dumped as much as 22 inches of snow in the North Carolina mountains and pelted the eastern part of the state with ice, much as was expected with the 2015 version.
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory on Monday shut down all non-mandatory state government operations in Wake County early Monday afternoon before any precipitation had fallen. He also declared a state of emergency and issued executive orders designed to streamline any storm cleanup.
“Let’s hope that we’re over-prepared and underwhelmed by this storm,” McCrory said.
States such as Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia were unlikely to get much sympathy from states in the Northeast, slammed by seemingly endless snow.
Though snow had stopped falling in many areas of the South on Monday, it was bitterly cold.
West Virginia was hit hard by the snowstorm when a train carrying crude oil derailed about 30 miles from Charleston. At least one tanker went into the Kanawha River and nearby house caught fire. It wasn’t clear if the winter storm had contributed to the crash.
Freezing rain fell as far south as Mississippi, where more than 15,000 customers were without power Monday evening. Road crews and utility workers in South Carolina spent most of the day preparing by treating roads as dozens of wrecks were reported.
Georgia officials took no chances, bringing in more personnel to the state operations center and pre-treating roads with a mixture of salt and water. Atlanta was expected to get rain, dodging any icy or snowy conditions.