New York City Emerging from Paralysis after Huge Snowstorm

At a press conference, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that 19 people had died as a result of Winter Storm Jonas along the East Coast. Other preliminary reports put the death toll from storm-related causes at 26.

Cuomo said that five of the dead were in New York state, three of them in New York City, and he added that they had mainly died from heart attacks after overexerting themselves to remove snow from driveways and the like.

Vehicles began circulating Sunday morning after traffic restrictions were implemented Saturday afternoon and – despite the cold weather – New Yorkers were out on the streets and in parks, despite the temperature of -3 C (27 F) to get a little activity or shop after being cooped up inside for hours.

At the Central Park weather observation station, 68.07 cm (about 26.8 in.) of snow was reported, exceeded only by the 68.33 cm (26.9 in.) that fell in February 2006 and was New York’s heaviest snowfall in the past 150 years.

Snow removal machines could be heard everywhere in the city and its environs on Sunday, as both municipal workers and private individuals cleaned the streets, roads and driveways to get the city back to normal by Monday.

New York received about twice as much snow as had been predicted by weather authorities.

Although New York’s intensive snow cleanup activities will allow schools to reopen on Monday, other cities – such as Washington, Baltimore and Jersey City – have said classes will not resume until Tuesday.

At John F. Kennedy International Airport, 76 cm (29.9 in.) of snow fell, forcing delays in 871 Saturday flights and 604 had been cancelled by midday Sunday.

Washington, meanwhile, with its 43 cm (16.9 in.) of snow, experienced its fifth-worst snowstorm, albeit far below the record of 71 cm (28 in.) set in 1922.