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State-by-state look at the big US snow storm

Posted at 9:34 AM, Jan 24, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-24 11:34:56-05

 A massive winter storm buried much of the U.S. East Coast in as much as 3 feet of snow in some places by Sunday, but travel bans were slowly lifting following overnight snow-clearing by emergency workers. The storm stranded drivers on snowbound highways on Saturday and knocked out power to tens of thousands of people. A look at some of the impacts by state:

DELAWARE

Firefighters helped about a dozen people evacuate Oak Orchard, a low-lying community in southern Delaware that often floods during storms. Part of Route 1, a costal artery, was closed because of sand and water. Officials reported numerous dune breaches along the coast and significant flooding of low-lying communities around inland bays. More than 5,000 homes and businesses lost electricity. A power failure shuttered the Delaware City Refinery and released pollutants, but environmental officials said no harmful levels of pollutants were detected at the facility's fence line or downwind from it.

GEORGIA

Utilities had restored power to more than 66,000 customers since the storm began there early Friday, though a few thousand more were still without service, a Georgia Power spokesman said.

KENTUCKY

Motorists got stuck overnight Friday on Interstate 75 south of Lexington as wrecks and blowing snow brought traffic to a halt. Officials went from vehicle to vehicle, checking on marooned drivers; distributing water, fuel and snacks; and helping people get to shelters set up at churches and public schools along the highway. But some drivers said they were too far away to make it to the shelters. The road reopened early Saturday. Elsewhere, a transportation worker died while plowing snow-covered highways near Bowling Green, and a man died when his car collided with a salt truck.

MAINE

Snow pros in the Bangor Police Department offered advice to points south, instructing the snowbound to keep generators gassed up but outside. Running a generator inside can result in deadly carbon monoxide filling the house. Their Facebook post said, "The men and women of the Bangor Police Department are rooting for you."

MARYLAND

Despite the high winds and tremendous volume of snowfall there was only one reported death in Baltimore, and officials aren't even sure it's snow-related, said Bob Maloney, Baltimore Director of the Office of Emergency Management.  A travel ban in the city and along a 34.7-mile stretch of interstates has been lifted, but officials still urged residents to not venture out onto the roads if not necessary. Maryland Emergency Management Agency spokesman Ed McDonough said I-270 and I-70 from I-81 in Washington County to the Baltimore Beltway had reopened as of 7 a.m. Sunday.

NEW JERSEY

Most major highways in New Jersey had been cleared by early Sunday, including the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. Nonetheless, reduced speed limits were in place on most of those roadways, and drivers were being urged to use extra caution and to avoid travel if possible. Officials say roads should be in good shape for the Monday morning commute.

NEW YORK

All rail service in and out of New York's Grand Central Terminal is expected to resume Sunday afternoon after a record-setting blizzard hammered the city. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says service on the Metro-North lines at outlying terminals in New York and Connecticut is scheduled to begin after noon. Service on the Long Island Rail Road remains suspended. The MTA says the goal is to bring back service for the Monday morning commute. Three people died while shoveling snow in New York City, where over 25 inches of snow in Central Park marked the third-largest snowfall since record-keeping began in 1869, police and weather officials said.  All Broadway shows -- both matinees and evening performances -- were given the green light to go on as normal Sunday after New York state officials lifted their travel ban. Bruce Springsteen postponed a show set for Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

NORTH CAROLINA

A North Carolina man is charged with killing a motorist who stopped to help after the suspect's car slid off an ice-covered road. Jail records show 27-year-old Marvin Jacob Lee of Claremont was at the Catawba County jail Saturday on a murder charge pending a court appearance Monday. Multiple news media organizations reported Lee had run off an icy road when a passing truck with three men stopped to help around nightfall Friday. Sheriff Coy Reid said Lee became agitated and the men called police to come help Lee, who then started shooting.

OHIO

A teenager sledding behind an all-terrain vehicle was hit by a truck and killed Friday, the State Highway patrol said. The truck failed to yield at a traffic light and hit the sled, which the ATV was pulling in Wheelersburg, the highway patrol said.

PENNSYLVANIA

Many travelers, including teams of college athletes and a church group, got stuck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Temple University women's gymnastics team and the Duquesne University's men's basketball team were stuck in their buses for hours, as was a church group of 96 mostly teenage parishioners heading home to Indiana from the March for Life in Washington. The National Guard and front end loaders started digging the vehicles out on Saturday afternoon.

TENNESSEE

Two people were killed as cars slid off icy roads. One vehicle plummeted down a 300-foot embankment Wednesday night, killing the driver, whose husband survived and climbed up over several hours to report the wreck. Nashville saw its heaviest snowfall in nearly 20 years as the storm caused gridlock on streets and highways in Middle Tennessee. Eight inches of snow fell at Nashville International Airport, the most since Nashville logged 8.7 inches of snow on March 19, 1996.

VIRGINIA

Firefighters evacuated tenants from 24 apartments in two northern Virginia apartment buildings after one partially collapsed and the other showed signs of weakening early Sunday, Prince William County officials said. They said the cause of the collapse appeared to be  snowfall of approximately 28 inches during the past 36 hours in Manassas. No residents were hurt. One firefighter suffered a cut to the face, and about 65 people were displaced. The county says arrangements are being made to shelter them. A man was killed on Saturday in a single-vehicle crash in Virginia Beach that police blamed on speed and icy road conditions, and Virginia Tech filmmaker Jerry Scheeler died Friday while shoveling snow outside his new house in Daleville, local news media reported Sunday. On Saturday, the state medical examiner's office confirmed three other storm deaths. Snow, ice and gusting winds made the roof collapse at a Donk's Theater, a historic venue near the Chesapeake Bay, building officials said. The theater opened in 1947 and was known as Home of Virginia's Lil' Ole Opry.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Public schools in the District of Columbia will be closed on Monday, Mayor Muriel Bowser said. The school system is responsible for nearly 49,000 students. Bowser told a news conference Sunday morning that officials were still assessing whether city government offices would open Monday, but she said they would "do everything possible to get our government open tomorrow." Mass transit in the nation's capital was still shut down; officials expected to have an update by Sunday afternoon. The federal government closed its offices at noon Friday, and it wasn't immediately clear what the plans were for Monday. President Barack Obama, hunkered down at the White House, was one of many who stayed home. But a video of one of the Smithsonian National Zoo's four pandas enjoying the snow there was a bright spot amid the storm clouds, drawing 45 million views on Facebook.

WEST VIRGINIA

As many as 200 vehicles, most of them tractor-trailers, were stranded overnight Friday on Interstate 77 north of Charleston. The logjam was cleared by noon Saturday, with a fleet of wreckers pulling out stuck vehicles. Roman Catholics were relieved of their obligation to attend Mass because of the snowstorm, as Bishop Michael J. Bransfield encouraged prayers for those in the path of the storm.