Massive, Rare Halloween Snowstorm Slams East Coast & Northeast US — Airport Delays, Millions without Power, OWS Protests Shrinking (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on October 30, 2011
October Surprise: A huge snowstorm has devastated the eastern US, cutting power to millions and killing at least 3 people - this is a shot from York, Pennsylvania
A rare, huge Halloween snowstorm has pummeled much of the eastern United States. Millions of people are without power, and at least three people have been killed. The worst has yet to come. Up to 18 inches of snow are predicted for some areas.
The record-breaking snowstorm in October has caused the number of Occupy Wall Street demonstrations to decimate, although some of the anti-capitalism socialists are idiotically braving the cold and record snowfall in their garbage-ridden encampments to continue living in their Obamaville tents in parks. Police have reportedly supplied some of the OWS protests with generators to help them stay warm (generators were confiscated in New York because they presented a danger), but there aren’t enough to go around.
This snowstorm dumped the most snow on New York in the month of October ever. It was also the first reported snowfall before Halloween in New York City since the Civil War. New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts have declared states of emergencies.
ITN News, SNOWSTORM: Rare October storm barrels up US coast
From International Business Times, October Snowstorm of 2011: Record-Setting Trick No Treat in the Northeast:
Snow is falling Saturday in the Northeast, and the rare October Snowstorm of 2011 is expected to smash records from New York to areas inland of the Interstate 95 corridor before it ends early Sunday. Massive power outages are possible for millions in the heavy-snowfall areas of the Northeast due to accumulations of heavy, wet snow.
In New York City, where 2 to 4 inches is forecast for Manhattan, with more in the suburbs, there hasn’t been measurable snow recorded in October since 1952. But with a 90 percent chance of accumulating snow, that’s about to change as the record-setting October nor’easter plows up the East Coast on Saturday.
Already, the crushing early-season snowstorm is dumping heavy, wet snow across the Mid-Atlantic region, and it is spreading north — getting stronger and moving fast. Because trees are still heavy with green leaves, the weighty, wet snow is expected to cause massive power outages where accumulations are the heaviest.
By mid-morning Saturday, rain had changed to snow in all of western Pennsylvania, and it was starting to change to snow in the Susquehanna Valley, including Harrisburg, Lancaster and York.
Raw Footage, ABC World News Now: New York City Snow – October 29, 2011
From MSNBC, Snow cancels NY, Philly flights, makes road travel treacherous:
An unusual October snowstorm grounded hundreds of planes, delayed others and caused dozens to divert Saturday from New York-area airports.
Road travel was treacherous in some parts of the Northeast, and officials urged motorists to stay home.
The tracking site Flightaware.com reported nearly 600 flights to Northeastern airports canceled, including destinations such as Philadelphia, New York, Newark, Boston and others.
La Guardia and JFK airport officials in New York said flights were coming in and going out, but airlines made their own decisions about cancellations.
One runway at Newark airport was closed but the airport remained open, officials told NBC News. All domestic outbound flights were canceled, according to Mayor Cory Booker.
[...]
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said the state was trying to move 1,000 cots to the airport to make stranded travelers from 23 diverted flights comfortable, NBC Connecticut reported.
The record snow and cold has put the Occupy Wall Street movement on edge — hundreds of park squatters who are living in tents are feeling the icy wrath of Mother Nature.
NY ‘Occupy’ demonstrators battle cold as storm moves in
From National Post, Occupy Wall Street: New York snow puts chill on protesters:
NEW YORK – A rare October snowstorm tested the resolve of anti-Wall Street protesters camped in a New York park Saturday, as police arrested demonstrators in Denver and evicted others from a Nashville plaza.
In Washington, demonstrators marched in sleet to the U.S. Treasury to urge higher taxes on the financial sector, beating a drum and chanting “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!”
Buffeted by strong winds, protesters hunkered down in snow-covered tents in Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan, where the Occupy Wall Street movement against economic inequality first set up camp six weeks ago, sparking dozens of similar occupations in city parks across the United States.
A day after New York authorities confiscated their generators, hundreds of protesters struggled to stay warm and dry after more than an inch of snow fell in the city with temperatures forecast to drop to freezing overnight.
“We knew this would be tough. We didn’t start this as a sort of summer of love, it’s the winter of discontent,” said Alan Collinge, 41, from Seattle, poking his head out a tent.
He estimated one in five protesters in the park had left due to the unusually early storm, but added, “They’ll be back, we’re not going anywhere.”
Snow Storm Hits New York City | 10-29-2011
From WDAY News 6, Major snowstorm hits the East Coast causing big problems:
More than 2 point 3 million customers along the East Coast are without power because of a major snowstorm that couldn’t wait for winter.
The heavy snow measures in feet. Flights are disrupted, trains delayed, and roads condition continue to worsen. Three deaths are now blamed on this storm.
The early-bird blizzard made college football games into snow-bowls. near-whiteout conditions turned grips into slips as players struggled more against the weather than one another. Slick surfaces made for more than the usual number of fumbles, tumbles, and stumbles.
In Vermont, the snow outpaced skiers by weeks, leaving empty ski resorts with lots of the white stuff and no one to enjoy it.
Hi-rise view in NY of the October snowstorm
From Minneapolis/St. Paul KARE 11, Early snow pelts East Coast, 2 million without power:
An unusually early and powerful nor’easter dumped wet, heavy snow Saturday from the mid-Atlantic to New England, toppling leafy trees and power lines and knocking out electricity to more than 2 million homes and businesses.
Communities inland were getting hit hardest, with eastern Pennsylvania serving as the bull’s-eye for the storm. West Milford, N.J., about 45 miles northwest of New York City, had received 15.5 inches of snow by Saturday night, while Plainfield, Mass., had gotten 14.3 inches. New York City’s Central Park set a record for both the date and the month of October with 1.3 inches of snow.
More than 2.3 million customers lost power from Maryland north through Massachusetts, and utilities were bringing in crews from other states to help restore it. More than half a million residents in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut were without power, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. By late Saturday, the storm had vacated most of Pennsylvania and was tracking northeast.
Throughout the region, officials had warned that the early storm would bring sticky snow on the heels of the week’s warmer weather and could create dangerous conditions. New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts declared states of emergencies, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for 13 counties. At least three deaths have been blamed on the storm.
From CNN, 3 dead, over 2 million without power as snowstorm slams Northeast, Mid-Atlantic:
(CNN) — A freak fall snow storm slammed the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Saturday, leaving three people dead, more than 2 million households without power and thousands of air travelers stranded.
An 84-year-old man was napping in a recliner at his home in Temple, Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon when part of a large, snow-filled tree fell into his house and killed him “instantly,” according to a state police report. With numerous downed trees in the area, rescue crews took two hours to “safely remove the victim.”
Another person died while driving in Hebron, Connecticut, state emergency spokesman Scott Devico said.
A third person was killed in Springfield, Massachusetts, when a man in his 20s ignored police barricades surrounding downed power lines and touched a metal guard rail, which was charged, said city fire department spokesman Dennis Legere.
Predicting the system could dump as much as 18 inches of snow in some spots, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy joined New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick in issuing emergency declarations for their respective states.
Before the snowstorm…
Occupy Wall Street 'Tent City' in Zuccotti Park in NY, before the snowstorm hit on Saturday
After the snowstorm…
From Daily Mail, Let them freeze! Wall Street protesters’ fury as city authorities seize generators from Occupy camp… just as the snow arrives:
They’ve had it good for six weeks with some beautiful autumnal sunshine, but the future of Occupy Wall Street now hangs in the balance – as the weather turns and snow storms threaten the U.S.
Protesters were waking up in their tents at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan this morning after a freezing cold night to the prospect of the first snowfall before Halloween in New York City since the Civil War.
And following a day of rain on Thursday, their moods were further dampened today after the city’s authorities took away the generators they were using to keep warm and power electronic devices.
An Occupy Wall Street spokesman said this was ‘a pretext to make the protest less sustainable and more difficult for us’, but authorities insisted they had to remove the equipment for safety reasons.
A blanket of cold air that brought the first flurries of the season to Colorado on Wednesday is continuing to spread south and east, bringing the lowest temperatures since spring.
[...]
Protesters have erected tents and tarpaulins over parts of the concrete park, but appeared to be failing in their battle to keep warm and dry.
Some demonstrators in New York avoided the wet weather on Thursday by huddling in a local art gallery run by Trinity Wall Street church with free internet access, reported the New York Post.
Meanwhile, the protests now have the support of David Duke – arguably America’s most infamous white-power advocate and a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
‘I cheer the men and women on the streets condemning the international banks that hold America financially hostage,’ he said in a video.
Snow hits Occupy Denver, October 2011
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I guess these wall st squatters are all ready to go home to their parents nice warm basements now.
Losers.