US snowstorm leaves 8 dead

New York [USA]: A snowstorm engulfed USA’s eastern half, leaving eight people dead and thousands stranded.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled and children were forced to sleep at schools as after-school programmes and field trips stood cancelled in the face of extreme weather conditions.

CNN quoted local sites while reporting that around 400,000 people in 17 states were left without electricity on Friday (local time) on the eastern side of the American continent.

A crash involving 20 vehicles took place on the upper level of the George Washington Bridge in New Jersey on November 15 (local time), according to The New York Times. No casualties were reported, as drivers abandoned their cars on one of the busiest bridges in the world.

6.4 inches of snow was recorded at New York’s Central Park, making it biggest one-day snowfall during this time in 136 years.

Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio faced the wrath of affected citizens, who in turn blamed faulty weather predictions for the havoc that the snowstorms created.

Similarly, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said, “Yesterday gave forecasting a bad name,” at a press conference held Friday on (local time).

Murphy further highlighted community efforts during the storms and thanked all those who worked tirelessly through Thursday’s (local time) storm. “Thank you to the selfless staff of Chit Chat Diner in West Orange for welcoming nearly 80 hungry kids off of their school buses at the height of last night’s storm. Chit Chat’s generosity is a powerful example of a community coming together in a time of crisis,” he tweeted on Saturday (IST).

[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]