Blizzards strand thousands in US

Blizzard conditions dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of the US north east, stranding thousands of airline, bus and rail passengers, with lashing winds and low visibility also buffeting workers returning to their post-Christmas routines.

The winter storm wreaked havoc on travellers from the Carolinas to Maine, forced the suspension of operations at some of the nation’s busiest airports and marooned a passenger bus carrying about 50 people on a New Jersey highway.

Airlines scrambled to rebook passengers on thousands of cancelled flights – more than 1,400 out of the New York City area’s three major airports alone – and said they did not expect normal service to resume until Tuesday.

Amtrak cancelled train services from New York to Maine after doing the same earlier for several trains in Virginia. The nation’s largest commuter rail system, New York’s Long Island Rail Road, also suspended service. Bus companies cancelled routes up and down the east coast, and drivers faced hazardous travel conditions – sometimes with close to zero visibility.

In Monmouth County, New Jersey, snow drifts of up to five feet contributed to stalling a passenger bus on the Garden State Parkway, where snow ploughs were having a difficult time clearing because there were so many stranded cars, state police spokesman Steve Jones said. Ambulances could not reach the bus, and state troopers were carrying their own water and food to the bus to give to people who were feeling ill, he said.

A blizzard warning, which is issued when snow is accompanied by sustained winds or gusts over 35mph, was in effect from Delaware to the far northern tip of Maine. The storm is expected to bring up to 4in of snow an hour. Up to 16in is expected across nearly all of Rhode Island, Connecticut and eastern Massachusetts, though forecasters said winds of 50mph could create much deeper snow drifts.

States of emergency were declared in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Maine and Massachusetts, where Governor Deval Patrick urged people who did not have to be on the roads to stay home. Non-essential state workers were also told to stay home.

Air carriers began cancelling flights on Saturday and warned that more cancellations are likely. Operations were suspended on Sunday at New York’s John F Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports and at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport.

Delta Air Lines, which has cancelled 850 flights and expected cancellations on Monday in New York and Boston, said it hoped to be back to normal by Tuesday morning, while United Airlines said it could add more flights on Monday to accommodate stranded passengers.

In Boston, Mayor Thomas Menino declared a snow emergency that bans parking on all major streets, and the New England Aquarium bubble-wrapped its four 5ft penguin ice sculptures to protect them from the wind and snow. More than 2,400 sanitation workers were working in 12-hour shifts to clear New York City’s 6,000 miles of streets.