'Historic' snow strands countless in Mid-Atlantic

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (AP): Scores of workers in the snowy Mid-Atlantic region were given Monday off to shovel out from a blizzard that buried some areas in nearly three feet of snow as another, smaller storm loomed.

While the weekend winter blast offered prime sledding and snowball-hurling for many, stranded travelers and those struggling with no electricity wondered when they'd escape the icy, gray mess.

Federal agencies that employ 230,000 in Washington will be closed Monday, as will many businesses and school districts across the region.

Crews plowing streets and homeowners shoveling their walkways faced the possibility of another storm adding to the work. The National Weather Service issued a storm watch for the Washington area Tuesday, saying there was potential for another 5 inches or more of snow. Forecasters expect highs in the low- to mid-30s for the next few days, though sunshine on Monday should help melt some of the snow, said weather service meteorologist Bryan Jackson.

The sight of cross-country skiers cascading down monument steps and flying snowballs has since given way to images of people hunched over snow shovels or huddled next to fireplaces.

John and Nicole Ibrahim and their 2-year-old son, Joshua, have been without power at their suburban Washington home in Silver Spring, Md., since overnight Friday. They were among hundreds of thousands without electricity across the region, and utilities warned it could be days before electricity is restored to everyone.

"We were all bundled up in the same bed together and (Joshua) was coughing in his sleep and his heart was racing, and we worried he might be getting pneumonia," Nicole Ibrahim said.

The National Weather Service called the storm "historic" and reported a foot of snow in parts of Ohio and 2 feet or more in Washington, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Parts of Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia got closer to 3 feet.

Eric Berry, a plow driver for Baltimore, said he worked 12-hour shifts Saturday and Sunday. He said overanxious residents were sometimes hindering his ability to clear secondary roads by digging out their cars and moving them into the path of his plow.

"They feel like they need to park in the street, so that when it's time to go, they can up and go," Berry said.

In Philadelphia, 28.5 inches of snow fell during the storm, just shy of the record 30.7 inches during a January 1996 blizzard. Snow totals were even higher to the west in Pennsylvania, with 31 inches recorded in Upper Strasburg and 30 inches in Somerset.

Almost 18 inches was recorded at Washington's Reagan National Airport, which had canceled all flights. That's the fourth-highest storm total for the city, and airport officials haven't decided when flights would resume. At nearby Dulles International Airport in Virginia, the record was shattered with 32 inches. Some flights there have resumed.