Web Desk
WASHINGTON: A powerful storm swept across the eastern United States on Monday, unleashing heavy snow and freezing rain that claimed five lives and left millions facing travel chaos from the central plains to Washington, DC.
Some 350,000 people were without power across nine states, while more than 1,800 flights were cancelled and thousands more delayed, according to tracking websites Poweroutage.us and FlightAware.
The National Weather Service (NWS) predicted up to a foot of snow in Washington, where Congress was set to forge ahead with the certification of Donald Trump’s election victory, four years to the day after his supporters stormed the US Capitol to try to overturn his 2020 loss.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has called for “full attendance” at Congress regardless of the weather.
The capital’s brightly-coloured row houses and normally leafy streets were blanketed with white on Monday as residents waded through the snow and schools were closed in a city which only rarely has to face such wintry conditions.
The storm tracked eastward after bringing blizzard conditions to states including Kansas and Missouri.
