After dumping record amounts of snow across the US East Coast over 36 hours, the mammoth blizzard, dubbed Snowzilla and Snowmageddon 2016, has ended, leaving millions of Americans with the daunting task of a monumental dig-out that could stretch for a few days.
The Washington metropolitan area received two to three feet of snow (Dulles Airport recorded 29.3 inches), while in New York City, it was the second-biggest winter storm in history that dumped 26.8 inches in Central Park and 30.5 inches at JFK Airport.
The death toll across the region rose to 19, with at least four dying while shoveling snow and two dying of hypothermia. The rest were mostly in car crashes with vehicles going out of control in the icy conditions. There were 1,100 road accidents in Virginia alone.
New York authorities lifted a travel ban imposed on Saturday, with its mass transit service set for a gradual restoration. In Washington, the Metro planned to resume the service on Monday.
After the cancellation of over 10,000 flights across the region, a limited resumption was expected in New York on Sunday afternoon, while airports serving Washington were likely to remain closed, according to media reports.
In New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, the blizzard and high tide led to coastal flooding in some places. Some evacuations were reported along the New Jersey shore.
In suburban Virginia, about 70 residents were forced to evacuate their apartments early Sunday after a roof partially collapsed apparently under the weight of snow accumulation.
In Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, drivers were marooned for hours in snow-choked highways.
Apart from the Washington metro area, five states reported snowfall totals of more than 30 inches in some places — New York, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania.