Icy roads, spotty transit service follow East Coast blizzard

US East Coast residents who made the most of a paralyzing weekend blizzard, that killed at least 30 people, face fresh challenges as the workweek begins: slippery roads, spotty transit service and mounds of snow that buried cars and blocked sidewalk entrances.
For many, the weekend extends into today because of closed schools and government offices. Officials were cautioning against unnecessary driving, even as they expected some commuter trains to be delayed or canceled.
The storm dropped snow from the Gulf Coast to New England in the northeastern US, with near-record snowfalls tallied from Washington, DC to New York City. At least 30 deaths were blamed on the weather, with shoveling snow and breathing carbon monoxide together claiming almost as many lives as car crashes.

Flying remained particularly messy after nearly 12,000 weekend flights were canceled. Airports resumed limited service in New York City, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, which said it got an entire winter's snow in two days. Washington-area airports remained closed yesterday after the punishing blizzard.
Major airlines also canceled hundreds of flights for today. Along with clearing snow and ice from facilities and equipment, the operators of airlines, train and transit systems had to figure out how to get snowbound employees to work.
Amtrak operated a reduced number of trains on all its routes, serving many people who couldn't get around otherwise, spokesman Marc Magliari said. But bus and rail service was expected to be limited around the region into today.

The snow began Friday, and the last flakes fell just before midnight Saturday. In its aftermath, crews raced all day yesterday to clear streets and sidewalks devoid of their usual bustle.

But one day wasn't enough to clear many roads.
Cars parked in neighborhoods were encased in snow, some of it pushed from the streets by plows. In downtown Philadelphia, some sidewalk entrances were blocked by mounds of snow.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio encouraged people to leave their plowed-in cars all week after a one-day record of 67.6 centimetres fell in Central Park.
Federal offices will be closed today, and Virginia's state workers were told to stay home. Schools from Washington to the Jersey Shore gave students off today; In the DC suburbs, classes also were canceled for tomorrow.

New York's transit authority said partial service on the Long Island Rail Road was restored on three of its 12 branches and diesel train service was operating on three other branches. The problems were due to switches and tracks that were refrozen overnight due to low temperatures. New York City subways, buses and Metro-North Railroad service were operating on a normal schedule today.