Washington DC paralysed by snow for fifth working day in a row
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Feb 11, 2010, 4:02:12 PM2/11/10
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Perilous Times
Washington DC paralyzed by snow for fifth working day in a row
Federal government comes to standstill, along with schools and public transport, in heaviest snowfall since records began
* Ewen MacAskill in Washington
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 11 February 2010 17.36 GMT
* Article history
Bo, America's 'First Dog', playing in the snow on the south grounds of the White House Photograph: Rex Features
The capital of the most powerful nation in the world remained paralysed by snow today for the fifth working day in a row, with the cost of the federal shutdown estimated at roughly $100m (£64m) a day.
The federal government has been closed since Friday afternoon, with 5,000 employees at home since then. Congress, though theoretically open, has conducted little business and session after scheduled session has been cancelled.
Republican politicians opposed to "big government" welcomed the shutdown, while the Democratic Senate leader, Harry Reid, joked that a few feet of snow was no worse than the Republicans, who had long paralysed the Senate with filibustering and other obstructionist tactics.
Among business cancelled today were a Congressional hearing on Iranian sanctions, moves to pass a jobs creation bill and negotiations on the year-long impasse over health reform.
Washington was hit by a blizzard yesterday that dumped fresh snow on top of the two feet that had accumulated at the weekend, breaking all winter records since they were first kept in 1889. The city has had 55 inches of snow this winter.
Other parts of the east coast, including Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York, were also hit by the storm, which has been dubbed snowmaggedon or snowpocalypse.
Washington, unlike New York, is not used to such heavy snowfall and does not have the equipment to quickly clear roads. The city was almost a ghost town yesterday during the blizzard, and the centre was still relatively quiet today. With next Monday a national holiday, and more snow forecast, the city is unlikely to back to anything approaching normal until at least Tuesday.
Snowploughs were out in the city today but were unlikely to make much impression on sidestreets until the weekend. As well as the government, schools, universities and businesses were shut down, and there was only limited public transport. The city's three airports did reopen, although there was backlog of cancelled flights.
Estimates of the cost for Washington and other parts of the east coast for the winter disruption were put at more than $1bn. DC, Virginia and Maryland have asked the federal government to declare them as disaster areas, which would mean they would be eligible for federal funding.
On a more positive note, police in the US capital, which has a high murder rate, have not recorded a single fatal attack over the last week.
Washington DC paralyzed by snow for fifth working day in a row
Federal government comes to standstill, along with schools and public transport, in heaviest snowfall since records began
* Ewen MacAskill in Washington
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 11 February 2010 17.36 GMT
* Article history
Bo, America's 'First Dog', playing in the snow on the south grounds of the White House Photograph: Rex Features
The capital of the most powerful nation in the world remained paralysed by snow today for the fifth working day in a row, with the cost of the federal shutdown estimated at roughly $100m (£64m) a day.
The federal government has been closed since Friday afternoon, with 5,000 employees at home since then. Congress, though theoretically open, has conducted little business and session after scheduled session has been cancelled.
Republican politicians opposed to "big government" welcomed the shutdown, while the Democratic Senate leader, Harry Reid, joked that a few feet of snow was no worse than the Republicans, who had long paralysed the Senate with filibustering and other obstructionist tactics.
Among business cancelled today were a Congressional hearing on Iranian sanctions, moves to pass a jobs creation bill and negotiations on the year-long impasse over health reform.
Washington was hit by a blizzard yesterday that dumped fresh snow on top of the two feet that had accumulated at the weekend, breaking all winter records since they were first kept in 1889. The city has had 55 inches of snow this winter.
Other parts of the east coast, including Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York, were also hit by the storm, which has been dubbed snowmaggedon or snowpocalypse.
Washington, unlike New York, is not used to such heavy snowfall and does not have the equipment to quickly clear roads. The city was almost a ghost town yesterday during the blizzard, and the centre was still relatively quiet today. With next Monday a national holiday, and more snow forecast, the city is unlikely to back to anything approaching normal until at least Tuesday.
Snowploughs were out in the city today but were unlikely to make much impression on sidestreets until the weekend. As well as the government, schools, universities and businesses were shut down, and there was only limited public transport. The city's three airports did reopen, although there was backlog of cancelled flights.
Estimates of the cost for Washington and other parts of the east coast for the winter disruption were put at more than $1bn. DC, Virginia and Maryland have asked the federal government to declare them as disaster areas, which would mean they would be eligible for federal funding.
On a more positive note, police in the US capital, which has a high murder rate, have not recorded a single fatal attack over the last week.
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