A huge blizzard has begun to hit the United States east coast and is expected to dump near-record levels of snow from Washington to New York. More than 50 million people have been warned that a potentially paralysing storm will drop up to 30 inches of snow in hours. Southern states are already blanketed less than 8 inches. Thousands of flights have been cancelled and people told to stay home.
Weather system affects a huge swath of the country, from Arkansas in the south to Massachusetts in the northeast, with eight people killed so far.
States of emergency declared in Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia and parts of other states. Washington’s transport system – the second busiest in the US- will remain closed during the weekend.
More than 50 million people across more than a dozen states have been warned to stay at home as it moves north. The nation’s capital, Washington, could lie under a record 30in (76cm) of snow by the time the storm passes on Sunday.
According to BBC eight people have been killed, six states have declared states of emergency and thousands of flights have been cancelled. The weather system affects a huge swathe of the country, from Arkansas in the south to Massachusetts in the north-east.
Summary:
Eight people have been killed in car crashes in Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky and elsewhere
States of emergency declared in Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia and parts of other states
More than 6,000 flights have been cancelled for Friday and Saturday
The US federal government closed down at noon on Friday
President Barack Obama is remain at the White House, officials said
Washington’s transport system – the second busiest in the US – will close all weekend
Washington’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, said this was a major storm with “life and death implications”.