Northeast US shivers after blizzard

Northeast America was today shivering in the wake of its worst blizzard for seven years.

At least 28 deaths had been blamed on the storm, which has dumped four-feet of snow across much of the region since the weekend.

More than a quarter of a million homes and businesses have been left without power.

Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York airports largely shut down, stranding thousands of passengers. Amtrak trains were halted between Washington and Richmond, Virginia. Many bus services stopped too.

Among the many travellers stranded by the storm, few were as far from home as Lynn Anderson from Belfast.

“It’s turned into a complete nightmare,” said Anderson, who arrived in Philadelphia on Sunday hoping to go to Williamsburg, Virginia, but had to stay overnight in a central Philadelphia hotel.

“It’s no man’s land out there,” said Garrett County state highway supervisor Paul McIntyre, whose office window was entirely blocked by snow. “It looks more like Siberia than Maryland.”

Among those killed was an 83-year-old Pennsylvania man who sought shelter in his parked car when his home heating system failed. Officials said he died either of hypothermia or carbon monoxide poisoning.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg estimated the storm, measured in Central Park at 19.8 inches last night, had already cost his city around £12m (€18m).