Tuesday, January 04, 2022
Power outage in Virginia
Snow storm paralyzes Washington
At the turn of the year the temperatures are still mild, but then a snow storm sweeps across the US east coast. Traffic in Washington comes to a standstill, federal agencies and schools remain closed. Hundreds of thousands of households in the state of Virginia are without electricity.
A heavy snowstorm led to massive power outages and traffic delays on the east coast of the USA. The state of Virginia was particularly affected, where around 400,000 households were still without electricity on Monday evening (local time). Local company Dominion warned customers that in some areas it might take “several days” to restore power. Because of the heavy, damp snow, trees fell and branches fell off, Dominion warned.
In the nearby capital Washington, according to the weather service, almost 20 centimeters of fresh snow was measured within a few hours. The federal government had already instructed its officials and employees on Sunday evening not to come to work on Monday, federal authorities remained closed, as did corona test centers. There were hardly any cars on the road in the city, and bus traffic was discontinued. Back streets were still uncleared hours following the last snowfall. The reopening of the schools following the holidays in Washington was postponed by one day to Thursday in order to leave enough time for the necessary corona tests before the start of classes.
US President Joe Biden also felt the blizzard first-hand: on his return from his home state of Delaware, there were delays when he arrived at Andrews military airport due to the snow. When Biden left the government plane in a lashing wind, snow rushed towards him from the right side. As the 79-year-old went down the stairs, he held on to the railing with his left hand, and he seemed to be holding the right hand over his ear. According to journalists who were traveling with him, the drive of his motorcade back to the White House was unusually slow because of the snow obstructions.
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