LIVE VIDEO: Washington in eye of storm as blizzards hit

Shoppers raided grocery and hardware shops, bishops excused Catholics from Mass, and the capital shut down ahead of a snow storm that will blanket much of the Eastern US this weekend.

Conditions quickly became treacherous as the first heavy flakes fell from Tennessee through Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains, aiming straight for Washington. Cars got stuck on icy, snow-covered roads, and people lost power as far south as Georgia.

The worst of the blizzards will be in the Washington area. The National Weather Service said this could be one of the top three storms in the capital’s history.