A NUMBER OF flights from Ireland to the US have been cancelled today, as the east coast braces itself for Storm Stella to hit.
Various flights from to and from Dublin Airport to New York, Newark and Boston have all been grounded as the storm batters cities up and down the coast.
Thousands more flights have been cancelled and schools closed in the US, as the storm drops snow and sleet across the region.
Enda Kenny – who is currently in the US for St Patrick’s Day – has also had to change his travel plans as a result of the storm.
Stella – the most powerful winter storm of the season – was forecast to dump up to two feet of snow in New York and whip the area with combined with winds of up to 96 km/h, causing treacherous whiteout conditions.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a 24-hour blizzard warning from midnight last night (4am this morning Irish time) for a region stretching north into Connecticut and south into New Jersey that includes New York City.
The storm however affects a densely populated area from Maine to Virginia, and as far west as Ohio.
More than 6,800 US flights were cancelled for yesterday and today, with airports in New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia hardest hit, according to the tracking service FlightAware.
In Connecticut, the governor announced a statewide travel ban, as residents across the affected region were urged to stay off the roads.
The forecast postponed the first meeting between President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Washington until Friday.
In New York, UN headquarters announced it would close, a disruption for the thousands of delegates expected to attend a women’s conference.
In the financial markets, much of Wall Street was expected to work from home with low trade volume anticipated, due partly to Wednesday’s decision from the Federal Reserve on whether to raise interest rates.
In Washington, the National Park Service warned that the cold could wipe out up to 90 percent of the capital’s beloved cherry blossoms.
One popular meme on social media was a clip of actor Marlon Brando in his famous cry of “Stella!” from the steamy 1951 film “A Streetcar Named Desire”.
Blizzard conditions
Schools will close in New York, parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as in the US capital and northern Virginia.
In New York City, home to 8.4 million people, Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency from midnight last night.
Trump, facing the first major weather event of his presidency after a mild winter, said he had spoken to Homeland Security and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was ready to provide assistance.
“Everybody in government is fully prepared and ready,” he said.
Let’s hope it’s not going to be as bad as some people are predicting. Usually it isn’t.
But de Blasio wasn’t taking any chances, with 16 to 24 inches of snow forecast and accumulation as quick as two to four inches an hour.
“High end could be as much as 24 inches which would therefore put this in the category of one of the biggest snowstorms in recent memory,” he said.
In 2016 New York experienced the biggest snowstorm in the city’s history, with a record 27.3 inches falling in Central Park in 24 hours. That storm paralyzed parts of the Northeast and left 18 people dead.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions, said it would close all three of its locations today.
© – AFP 2017 With reporting from Cormac Fitzgerald
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