A deadly storm bringing heavy snow and high winds pelted New England on Sunday, after causing casualties, accidents and damage during its march through the Midwest and the Northeast.
Blizzard conditions and high winds were forecast for the Northeast, while parts of Massachusetts had already seen 20 inches of snow, forecasters at The Weather Channel said. Winter storm watches were in place as far south as Atlanta and the northern parts of Alabama and Mississippi.
Whiteout conditions were reported in parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, according to The Weather Channel. High-wind warnings were issued from southern Connecticut to western North Carolina, including New York and Washington, D.C. York Beach, Maine, had the highest snowfall so far Sunday afternoon, with 2 feet, while Nantucket was experiencing the heaviest winds at 62 mph, according to The Weather Channel. More than 2,600 Sunday flights were canceled by Sunday evening, according to FlightAware.
At least 38 vehicles crashed on a slippery Kennedy Expressway in Illinois on Sunday, leading to road closings that stretched to the Ohio border, according to NBC Chicago. Twelve people were taken to hospitals, according to the Chicago Fire Department. More than 20 vehicles were involved in another pileup in Waltham, Massachusetts, resulting in minor injuries, state police said in a statement.
In Maryland, two EMTs were hit by a truck early Sunday while responding to an earlier car crash on Interstate 495 in Montgomery County. The driver of the truck appeared to lose control of his vehicle, striking the car involved in the previous crash and the EMTs. The occupants of the car and the EMTs were taken to a local hospital, NBC Washington reported. Their conditions weren't known.
A building in New Hampshire collapsed after racking up 14 inches of snow during Sunday's storm on top of several feet of snow that have accumulated in the past three weeks, according to the Seabrook Fire Department. A business was destroyed, but no one was injured, the department said. Parts of the state would remain under a blizzard warning until Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
A century-old building in historic Manassas, Virginia caved in Saturday evening, likely a result of high winds that swept through the area. The building was empty and police believe the incident was caused by the winter weather, NBC Washington reported.
Four roofs also collapsed in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker said during a Sunday news conference, and an entire occupied building in Quincy fell down, according to New England Cable News. One roof collapse in Stoughton trapped 33 horses in a barn. The barn’s owners pleaded for help online and people brought trailers to rescue the beleaguered horses, NBC’s Boston station reported.
Parts of the state have already picked up 7 feet of snow, and by the end of Sunday's blizzard, many areas could have another foot. Ipswich saw some of the most snow, getting pounded with 20 inches. Snow banks reached 20 feet against buildings, according to NBC Boston. "I opened the garage door and there was nothing but a wall of snow," said Paul Amundsen of Ipswich. "I dug a tunnel to get the snowblower out."
Baker said 3,000 customers were without power across the state Sunday afternoon.
Boston was under a parking ban, and officials shut down mass transit Sunday as the city prepared for yet another winter storm, it's fourth in less than 30 days. The city had gotten more than 13 inches of snow by 2 p.m. — breaking Boston's record for the most snow in one month by a foot, according to The Weather Channel.
Boston resident Betsy Burnett said the snowfall totals gives the city bragging rights. "I sent an email to my family today saying, 'We set a record,'" she said. "They wrote back, 'Our sympathies.'"
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh warned people to stay home. He said the whiteout conditions would make it hard to see cars or pedestrians, and even though 600 plows were out, wind-blown snow will make it "look like we didn't plow."
Richard Stone, a Boston teacher, who has been plowing and shoveling for extra cash, agreed. "It gets a little monotonous running around doing the same areas over and over again. Every three or four hours you come back and see the snow drifts that are there twice the size they were the last time you were there," he said.
Walsh said people should also check vents in their homes, because the city has seen an "uptick in carbon monoxide incidents" during the previous three storms. "People just want this to end," Walsh said, adding that the city has spent more than $30 million on snow removal and that he expects this storm will cost an additional $7 million.
After the snow, Massachusetts could see bone-chilling temperatures Sunday night through Tuesday, with wind chills of up to 40 degrees below zero feared for western parts of the state and minus-25-degree wind chills in the east, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said.
Walsh said homeless shelters in Boston were at "overflow capacity" but were setting up cots in offices in order to house as many people as possible.
New York City could see 3 to 7 inches of snow by Sunday afternoon, with high winds of 40 mph, gusts of 60 mph and subzero temperatures, forecasters and the city's Office of Emergency Management said.
"This weather can be extremely dangerous for everyone from children to the elderly, so I encourage people to stay indoors whenever possible and stay safe," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.
The Midwest and the Southern Plains won't be spared in the next blast. Winter weather warnings, advisories and watches stretched from Kansas and Oklahoma to the shores of North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday night, according to the National Weather Service. After dropping up to a foot of snow on parts of the Midwest, the storm will make its way to the Northeast and is likely to deal New England another blow Tuesday, according to The Weather Channel.