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The White House blanketed by heavy snow - Source: Reuters -
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The second major snowstorm in less than a week hit the US East
Coast on Wednesday, with predictions of 30.5 cm or more stretching
from Washington, DC, to New York City, forcing schools to close and
the US Congress to sharply curtail legislative action.
Government offices in Washington will be closed on Thursday - the
third straight day at a cost of roughly $100 million in lost
productivity per day - and the National Weather Service predicted
the US capital could get upwards of 36 cm by Thursday night.
The Office of Personnel Management said federal agencies in the
Washington area would be closed on Thursday. US government
emergency employees were expected to report for duty as scheduled
but other workers were excused for the day.
Residents were still trying to dig out from record snowfall of 46
cm to 81 cm last weekend from Washington to southern New Jersey.
Some tried to restock refrigerators and clear fallen trees before
the new storm arrived.
The latest storm has been dubbed "Snoverkill" and "Snomageddon 2.0"
and prompted many Washington-area schools to call off classes for
the rest of the week. Even the battle-tested New York public school
system said it would be closed on Thursday.
"I love it. I can handle one more round," said government lawyer
David Kaplan, 50, as he shoveled snow off his roof in Takoma Park,
Maryland, just outside Washington. He spent the past few days
sledding and building a luge run in his yard.
But Kaplan also said he spent a fair amount of time shoveling his
driveway and roof. "It's hard work and I hope never to do it
again," he said.
The cold weather helped push heating oil futures higher. There
still were a few thousand customers without power in the Washington
area while subway and bus services were limited.
The US House of Representatives canceled votes for the week. Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate would not be in session
on Thursday but would resume work on Friday. He said he doubted the
Senate would have any votes this week. Many congressional hearings
were also called off.
Philadelphia to bear the brunt
Beyond the US capital, preparations were under way for 25 cm to 51
cm in Philadelphia and 25 cm to 40.6 cm in New York City, according
to the National Weather Service.
Forecasters also were predicting strong winds that could cause
additional power outages.
AMR Corp's American Airlines canceled Thursday flights in and out
of Washington's three area airports as well as Philadelphia. Late
flights on Wednesday also have been nixed so that planes are not
stranded in the snow, the airline said.
Carriers also once again relaxed their ticket policies to allow
passengers to change flight plans around the storm. Both moves
could cloud the outlook for an industry already hard hit by the
battered economy.
US Airways canceled its hourly shuttle service between Washington
and New York for Thursday while Amtrak passenger rail service
warned of limited service along its lucrative Northeast
corridor.
The storm left a battered Midwest in its wake, with canceled
flights in Chicago and up to 17 inches of snow in Iowa, one of the
largest hog-producing states. The marketing of hogs was disrupted,
helping Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures to rise to their
highest level in six months.
"This snowy weather creates miserable conditions for livestock in
feedlots," said Harry Hillaker, an Iowa state climatologist. "It is
difficult to get feed to them and to keep water lines from
freezing."
Livestock traders said the the inclement weather has caused cattle
to lose substantial weight, with producers having to feed the
cattle more just to keep them warm.
"As of two weeks ago the weather damage to feedlot gains converts
to a 2% drop in beef production. It doesn't include the last couple
weeks of southern Plains storms so the current rate (of beef
production) is probably even worse," said Rich Nelson, livestock
analyst with Allendale Inc.
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