Valentines's Day snowstorm 12 dead, 300,000 powerless from wild winter weather.
Pastor Dale Morgan
Valentines's Day snowstorm 12 dead, 300,000 powerless from wild winter
weather.*
Updated 2/14/2007 4:59 PM ET
By Nahal Toosi, the Associated Press
NEW YORK — Blowing snow and sleet glazed windshields and roads across
the Northeast and the Midwest on Wednesday, messing up Valentine's Day
flower deliveries and wrecking couples' plans for romantic dinners.
The storm grounded hundreds of flights and forced the closing of schools
and businesses from Kentucky to Maine. Many of those stuck at home had
no heat or lights because of blackouts that affected more than a
quarter-million customers.
PHOTOS: Winter storm hammers Midwest | WEATHER GUYS BLOG: Tell us your
storm story
"I'm just trying to figure out where to take my wife for Valentine's
Day," said Skip Daniels, the emergency management director in Sussex
County, N.J.
At least 12 deaths were blamed on the huge storm system.
Blizzard warnings were posted for parts of New Hampshire, Massachusetts
and Maine, where as much as 2 feet of snow was possible.
The storm's cold, snow, sleet and rain made life difficult for
Valentine's Day messengers.
"Cold. Slippery. Nobody has their sidewalks sanded," said Caroline
Roggero at Rose Petal Florist in Newport, R.I. "They all want their
delivery today."
The storm was a convenient excuse for husbands and boyfriends who forgot
to send flowers.
Some delivery drivers got stuck on the roads. Flowers delivered to
offices were turned away because the businesses were closed. And
customers had to change their orders to have flowers delivered to homes
instead of places of work.
"We're hoping people will understand we're doing the best we can do,"
said Pat Jarvis at Dwyer Florist in Northampton, Mass.
Edigio DiPaola, owner of Spennato's Restaurant — a good place for a
romantic dinner with its low lighting, intimate tables, lace
tablecloths, Italian wine and marinara sauce — was not expecting much of
a Valentine's Day crowd, not with 15 inches of snow on the ground and
the temperature in the single digits.
"We are dead," he said, his heavily Italian-accented voice dripping with
disappointment. "No one's on the roads. We don't expect anything
tonight. It's very bad news — this was a big day for us. Now it will be
way below average."
Vermont's state government ordered all non-essential employees home
after noon, the New York Capitol in Albany came to a near-halt, and some
Pennsylvania state workers were told to stay home. Maine's governor
declared a state of emergency to ensure deliveries of heating oil, and
New York's governor activated the National Guard.
In upstate New York, more than a foot of snow had fallen by midday in
Herkimer County in the Adirondacks, and up to 3 feet of snow was
possible. But the brunt of the storm bypassed towns near the east end of
Lake Ontario that had been buried by 10 feet and more of lake-effect
snow over the past week.
In the Midwest, Springfield, Ill., got 16 inches of now, and stiff wind
piled the snow into drifts as high as 9 feet in parts of Indiana.
Hundreds of flights were canceled Wednesday at the New York City area's
three major airports and in Albany, Boston, Washington, Chicago,
Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Indianapolis.
About 300,000 customers lost power in Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland, New
Jersey, Indiana and New York's Long Island.
The huge weather system was blamed for three deaths in Nebraska; two
each in Indiana, New Jersey and Delaware; and one each in Missouri and
Ohio. A tornado on the southern side of the huge weather system killed
one person in Louisiana.
The storm was good news for the ski industry in New England, where snow
has been sparse this winter.
"Best day of the year," snowboarder Willie Bozack, 28, of Moretown, Vt.,
said outside the base lodge at Sugarbush Resort. "It's epic."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All ri