US digs out from huge blizzard

A blizzard dumped roughly two feet of snow on the US Northeast and prompted authorities to close major roads. Deborah Gembara reports.

THE northeastern US began digging out on Saturday in the wake of a fierce blizzard that left at least six dead, half a million customers without power, and air, road and rail links paralysed.

In Massachusetts an 11-year-old boy died of carbon monoxide poisoning Saturday after being overcome as he sat in a running car to keep warm, while his father was shoveling snow to get the car out of a snow bank.

Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said the boy was helping his father shovel the snow in the Dorchester neighborhood but got cold, so his father started the car and the boy got inside the vehicle. MacDonald said the car exhaust was covered by a snow bank, causing the fumes to collect in the car.

"I don't know how long the boy was in the car, at some point the father was still working and was unaware of the boy's condition," said Boston firefighter Octavius Rowe, who lives nearby and went to help. "So very, very unfortunate."

A man pulls a child on a sled in Prospect Park in Brooklyn the morning after a massive snow storm that hit New York City and the US east coast.

When the boy was overcome by the fumes, the father went into respiratory arrest and emergency workers took both to Boston Medical Center, officials said. The boy was pronounced dead at the hospital. No names were released.

Meanwhile, the storm dumped between one and two feet (30 -60cm) of snow across New England, with hurricane-strength wind gusts helping to create massive drifts. But according to the National Weather Service, the system was on its way out of the region.

Snowfall timelapse from the backyard of a meteorologist in New Haven, Connecticut. YouTube/Geoff Fox

A person crosses a snow covered street in New York City after a winter storm dumped more than two feet of snow.

New York area airports LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark, which halted all flights during the height of the storm on Friday, were expected to resume service shortly. However, FlightAware.com listed almost 2000 cancellations, on top of the 3000 plus flights scrapped on Friday.

Amtrak said its rail link between New York and Boston would remain closed, but trains were resuming normal schedules to the capital, Washington.

A driving ban remained in force in Massachusetts, where some two feet (60cm) of snow fell in the blizzard, burying Boston streets.

A runner runs in the snow in the park along Commonwealth Ave in Boston. Picture: AP

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy also extended a partial driving ban to all roads until further notice.

"It's critical right now that residents stay off the roads, so that our plows can continue their efforts to clear our streets and highways," Mr Malloy said.

"This is a record setting storm. It's going to take time to dig out of the snow. Stalled or abandoned vehicles will only slow that process. Unless you face an emergency, please stay put."

Lauren Rae Levy, of Manhattan, stands outside the Metropolitan Opera House in the snow at Lincoln Centre during Fashion Week. Some shows were rescheduled because of the blizzard.

But in New York City, where just under a foot of snow accumulated in Central Park, most roads were cleared by morning.

"Looks like we dodged a bullet," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

With wind and heavy snow snapping power lines, more than half a million customers lost electricity, including 389,000 in Massachusetts, 177,000 in Rhode Island, and 35,000 in Connecticut.

Tow truck operator Shawn Juhre sets up road safety reflectors before towing a car out of a ditch during a winter snow storm in Buffalo, NY. Picture: AP

Utility companies in Connecticut said they were planning for up to 30 per cent of their customers, or more than 400,000 homes, to eventually lose power.

The severity of the impact was lessened by the storm's timing at the start of a weekend, but even the almost deserted roads across the region were highly dangerous.

A car driven by a young woman went out of control in the snow on a highway in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, striking and killing a 74-year-old man, who was walking on the shoulder of the road.

A worker carries a mannequin outside Lincoln Center, home of New York's Fashion Week shows. In New York City, the snow total in Central Park was 8.1 inches (20cm) by 3 am on Saturday.

And in Auburn, New Hampshire, a man was killed after losing control of his car and hitting a tree, local officials said.

Minor injuries were reported in a 19-car pileup on Interstate 295 in Falmouth, Maine, caused by poor visibility and slippery road conditions.

The National Weather Service said the low pressure system, now centered just out at sea off Cape Cod, would "reach its peak intensity this morning before pulling slowly away from the New England coast."

A man operates a snowblower during a blizzard in the Back Bay area of Boston.

"Wind gusts of up to hurricane force are possible early today, especially near the coast, before they slowly subside through the rest of the day," the NWS said. "Travel conditions will continue to be extremely hazardous, if not impossible."

The storm came a little over three months after Hurricane Sandy devastated swathes of New York and New Jersey, killing 132 people and causing damage worth some $US71.4 billion ($69.2 billion).

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