A powerful winter storm hit several states in the mid-Atlantic United States for the first time this year on Monday, closing federal government offices and public schools in Washington, D.C. The storm caused significant snowfall in the Ohio Valley and Central Plains region.
According to the National Weather Service, the federal capital could receive between 15 and 23 centimeters of snow before the storm moves away in the evening.
A state of emergency has already been declared in several states, including Kansas, Kentucky, Arkansas, Virginia and West Virginia.
The storm also brought freezing rain to a wide area stretching from Illinois to Maryland and Virginia.
On Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said the storm will not delay the congressional session scheduled for today to officially confirm Republican Donald Trump’s election as president. However, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management announced that federal offices in Washington will remain closed.
Several hundred schools announced the closure of their establishments on Monday, notably in cities such as Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Washington and Philadelphia.
According to data published on the PowerOutage.us website, more than 250,000 homes and businesses in the central and southern United States were without power due to the storm.
Finally, the FlightAware platform reported the cancellation of nearly 1,450 domestic and international flights, as well as delays for more than 11,000 other departures, as of 8 a.m. Eastern Time.
