New York City bans most travel as blizzard hits, with thousands of flights cancelled across US
Millions of people under blizzard watch as historic winter storm hits US northeastpublished at 08:19 GMT
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
A major snowstorm — expected to be the worst in nearly a decade — started slamming parts of the East Coast of the US on Sunday. It’s expected to continue into Monday afternoon.
Around 40 million people are under blizzard warnings, including in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Long Island, while another 19 million are facing winter storm warnings.
New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut are among the areas under states of emergency, with up to 24 inches of snow expected to fall in parts of the region, according to the National Weather Service.
As of midnight local time (05:00 GMT) on Monday, much of the north-east had already been blanketed in several inches of snow – with 10 inches reported in parts of New York and New Jersey.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has issued a travel ban, meaning only essential vehicles are allowed on roads and bridges throughout the five boroughs, from 21:00 local time Sunday through 12:00 Monday. All schools in the city will be closed on Monday too.
Thousands of flights have already been cancelled, and officials are warning that any travel will be dangerous.
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