New York is having one of his son’s worst snowfalls …

Northeast United States suffers from Monday from the impact of a great winter storm which forced the country to cancel thousands of flights, to close schools and to suspend until Tuesday in particular the vaccination against Covid-19 in various cities, including new York, which faces one of the heaviest snowfalls in its history.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a storm watch from Virginia to Maine, home to tens of millions of people, while huge snowfall with winds of up to 80 kilometers per hour they fall in New York, New Jersey, and parts of Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has declared a state of emergency in the city of 8.6 million people, where in some areas a blanket of snow of about 45 centimeters has formed, a figure up to about two feet, as expected. by meteorologists on the CNN news channel.

“The storm continues to develop. It continues to escalate. It’s a huge storm, ”said one of the channel’s meteorologists, who He expects the extreme conditions to continue until Wednesday.

De Blasio also ordered schools to be closed on Monday and Tuesday and restricted non-essential travel, although that is a move that this year does not affect as many people as many students take virtual classes and thousands of workers complete their Corona virus pandemic home tasks.

In addition, it prohibited restaurants from serving customers at tables outside. “It’s a dangerous situation, where there is a risk of death. If they’re not essential workers, stay home, ”New York Governor Andrew Cuomo asked.

Impact on vaccinations

Another of the measures taken by De Blasio was to suspend the vaccination program against Covid-19 until Tuesday inclusive. “We don’t want people, especially the elderly, to come out in these dangerous conditions to get vaccinated,” the mayor explained.

De Blasio said the delays in vaccinations can be corrected quickly as the city has a large capacity to deliver vaccines, which may be accelerated even further in the coming days.

However, said the main problem is the lack of doses in New York, where the vaccination rate is so far lower than expected. In this sense, he pointed out that to date, about 800,000 doses have reached the city, accessible to the over 65s and many workers considered essential, starting with those in the health sector.

The snowfall is also affecting coronavirus vaccination programs in other parts of the region such as Washington, Philadelphia or neighboring New Jersey, according to local media.

One of New York’s biggest winter storms

According to the NWS, snowfall, which started on Sunday evening, reached 33 cm in Central Park on Monday afternoon, will continue to fall until Tuesday afternoon and could reach 60 cm.

“If we go over 50cm it will be one of the 10 biggest snowstorms in New York”, said Matthew Wunsch, an NWS meteorologist in the city. The so-called Big Apple has only experienced seven snowfalls of this magnitude since the mid-1800s. The current record dates from January 2016, when it snowed nearly 70cm in three days.

The three airports in New York and its metro area have canceled the vast majority of flights, according to the Flight Aware website. In turn, more than 1,600 flights have been canceled across the country, particularly to Boston, New York, Washington DC and Philadelphia.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy also declared a state of emergency and ordered a statewide suspension of public transportation. “This storm is going to get worse before it gets better,” Murphy tweeted and reported that six major Covid-19 vaccination centers will remain closed on Tuesday.

Washington DC under the snow

The NWS has predicted that Washington DC snow cover can reach up to 8 inches in the Federal Capital Region and Baltimore, Maryland.

As a result, the return to face-to-face classes of thousands of students from Washington schools who would resume this Monday for the first time since March was suspended on Tuesday.

Likewise, US President Joe Biden has decided to suspend a planned visit to the State Department, while Congress has decided to restrict its activities.

The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has also declared a state of emergency, ordered the closure of government buildings and asked residents to remove their vehicles from certain streets so they can sweep the snow.

The storm, which left snowfall of up to 1.8 meters and heavy rain in mountainous areas of California last week, moved to the Midwest, including hitting Chicago, which recorded about 20 cm of snow. The storm is expected to arrive in Maine on Tuesday, where it can leave between eight and 33 cm of snow.