2nd Major Snowstorm Turns D.C. Into A Ghost Town

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Paralyzed Capital Braces For 2nd Major Storm



A paralyzed U.S. capital is bracing for a second winter storm to hit in less than a week, closing down Congress, keeping federal workers home and even rescheduling a White House concert.

Downtown Washington resembled a ghost town with its 230,000 federal workers at home for a second day on Tuesday and many shops shut or closing early as more snow was predicted to pound the U.S. East Coast, bringing another 9 more inches (23 more centimeters) of snow.

Airports in Washington were closing early Tuesday, roughly a day after they reopened for service following the weekend storm. Most airlines canceled flights through Wednesday so their planes don't get stuck in the snow.

Meanwhile, in New York the United Nations announced that it would be closed Wednesday.

Concert moved

President Barack Obama stayed close to the White House on Tuesday, holding a meeting with some members of Congress and hosting a concert in honor of Black History Month featuring Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson and Natalie Cole that had been moved up from Wednesday in anticipation of the snow.

In the past couple of days the U.S. capital and its surrounding areas have seen as much snow as they normally see in a year and if the 9 inches (23 centimeters) predicted fall on Tuesday night it could become the snowiest winter since records were first kept in 1884. Nearby states were also bracing for another dumping and several had called a state of emergency.

In the capital, government workers jostled with other residents in supermarket check-out lines, often 30-people long, to stock up on whatever staples were still available. Delivery trucks had trouble reaching many area supermarkets, leaving customers seeking cheese, fresh fruits and vegetables and even Diet Coke staring at empty shelves.

Despite canceled hearings and announcements at the many U.S. federal agencies, the government does not come to a grinding halt, said Linda Springer, a former director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, who now helps head up the public sector practice at Ernst & Young.

Government hasn't gone dark

"The government hasn't gone dark," said Springer, noting each federal agency has a core group of employees who can handle priority work. Other employees can work from home, and about 85 percent of the federal work force works outside the Washington region.

"Anything that is critical is going to get done," Springer said. Shuttering the agencies for a day costs the government an estimated $100 million in lost productivity and other associated costs.

David Fiore, 49, an employee of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, said he had gone to four stores looking for milk on Monday, with no success. By Tuesday morning, his local supermarket had restocked and he left with a 1 gallon (3 liters) of milk, more than he usually buys.

Fiore said that he planned to do some work when he returned home. "They're open in Turkey. I'm getting e-mails from Morocco. The work goes on," Fiore said.

Washington area schools were to remain closed on Wednesday and New York City announced its 1.1 million students would have a rare snow day, only the third in six years.


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Sources: MSNBC, Google Maps