Snow from last week's snow storm covers the Capitol grounds in Washington, Monday, Feb. 8, 2010. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Manuel Balce Ceneta
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Snow from last week's snow storm covers the Capitol grounds in Washington, Monday, Feb. 8, 2010. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Manuel Balce Ceneta |
WASHINGTON - A $20 cab ride to the airport skyrocketed to the "snow rate" of $100 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 snow comes 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 had nearly 3 feet (90 centimetres) 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 and Washington each need just a little more than nine inches (23 centimetres) to give the cities their snowiest winters since 1884, the first year records were kept.
Meteorologists predicted the snow would start Tuesday afternoon and continue into Wednesday. Between 12 and 18 inches (30 and 45 centimetres) was forecast for Philadelphia, the sixth-largest U.S. city and a travel hub - which could cause a ripple effect of travel problems for the rest of the Northeast. Airlines warned travellers more flights would be cancelled, and the new storm was expected to hit a wider area, affecting New York and Boston.
The storm closed schools and some 230,000 federal workers in Washington had Monday and Tuesday off. Power was still out for tens of thousands of homes and businesses.
The snowbound U.S. Senate met for a few minutes 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 gaveled 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 $50 million of the $60 million budgeted to keep the snow clear. In D.C., officials said they were over their $6.2 million snow budget even before the storm started. And Pennsylvania officials said they had already spent half of their $245 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 per cent of its $54 million snow and ice removal budget, or roughly $39 million, according to division spokesman Brent Walker.
"Seventy-two per cent sounds like a lot, especially when the season lasts through March," he said.
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Associated Press writers Jessica Gresko, Laurie Kellman and Nafeesa Syeed in Washington; Sarah Karush in Falls Church, Virginia; Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Tom Breen in Charleston, West Virginia; Dan Nephin in Pittsburgh; and Joann Loviglio in Philadelphia contributed to this story.