Toby storm affects US East Coast
A new snowstorm is affecting the Northeast of the United States, where more than 3,000 flights have been canceled, especially at the airports serving New York and its surroundings. The snowstorm Toby, which hits a good part of US east coast, forced numerous institutions of the federal government to close and cancel thousands of flights throughout the region.
Although the weather conditions are not extreme, with a maximum temperature of 10 degrees Celsius expected in Washington, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), the heavy snowfall has severely hindered transit through the city during the morning.
For this reason, official institutions, private companies and schools chose to communicate to their employees and users that they would remain closed throughout the day.
This situation has even affected President Donald Trump, who has opted to cancel all his official acts scheduled for today 'due to the weather', according to the White House in a statement. Also the vice president of the United States, Mike Pence, has had to modify his agenda and has 'postponed until further notice' the speech he had planned to give this Wednesday to the Organization of American States (OAS) in which he would set out the priorities of its Administration with respect to the continent.
In Washington, where the bulk of the Federal Government is located, a blanket of snow has forced the main institutions to close, with the exception of the Senate and the House of Representatives, where several hearings have been held throughout the morning. Likewise, public transport services have been restricted in the capital and, around noon, the first delays began to occur at airports in the region and travelers fear that cancellations may occur throughout the day.
However, along the entire east coast, especially in the north, thousands of flights have already been canceled, especially at the airports serving New York and its surroundings. According to the FlightAware portal, New York airports operate today far below capacity: LaGuardia and Newark's airports have reported the cancellation of approximately one thousand flights each, while the JFK has suspended more than 600 departures. .
Due to worrying forecasts, over the past few days, the authorities have recommended that citizens, as far as possible, avoid traveling and numerous airlines have allowed users to modify their tickets at no additional cost.
The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, warned at a press conference that it is a "serious storm" and anticipated that the situation will "get worse during the day" due, above all, to strong winds. In fact, if forecasts are met, this could be the biggest spring storm recorded in the history of the city.
In the Big Apple it is expected that the snow cover exceeds 40 centimeters in height, which could cause serious problems not only in transit but also in the city's wiring system. Further north, in states such as Massachusetts and Rhode Island, it is estimated that thousands of people are already suffering from power outages.
In total, an estimated 70 million Americans have been affected by a storm that makes it difficult to believe that spring officially began on Tuesday.