
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 5, 1994                   TAG: 9401050162
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

STORM MAY TOP LAST YEAR'S

The second big storm in a week blasted the East from North Carolina to Maine, canceling hundreds of airline flights, piling snow nearly 3 feet deep and leaving more than 200,000 people without power.

"It's going to be a replay of the March blizzard of 1993. We've got problems all over the state," said For update, call InfoLine and enter 2023. West Virginia National Guard spokesman Capt. Ron Garton.

West Virginia Gov. Gaston Caperton told thousands of state workers to stay home, declared a state of emergency and ordered the National Guard to clear away snow.

State employees in the eastern third of Kentucky were given the day off. Vermont's state government shut down at 2 p.m.

Emergencies were declared in four east-central Ohio counties and 11 upstate New York counties; National Guard four-wheel-drive vehicles were sent with help. Schools closed in 16 states.

Six people were killed: a boy who slid into traffic in New Hampshire, a man who was hit by a falling tree in West Virginia and four men who collapsed while or after shoveling snow. The shoveling victims were two men in Rhode Island, one in Ohio and one in Pennsylvania.

Airports were closed or idled by a lack of flights, Amtrak passengers were blocked by ice and downed power lines, and highways were slippery or blocked.

Up to 20 inches of snow fell on the mountains of North Carolina, and high winds and freezing snow were a problem in parts of the state.

In southwestern Pennsylvania, 33 inches fell at Waynesburg. Downtown Pittsburgh got 20 inches.

Middlebourne, in northern West Virginia, got 28 inches and West Union, in the north-central part of the state, got 20.

Some said the storm could become worse than March's blizzard, which shut down some Appalachian areas for days.

"This is a much heavier, wet snow and it has a tendency to wreak more havoc, especially with telephone and power lines and roadways," said Garton, of the West Virginia National Guard.

Emergency shelters were opened for some of the 100,000 to 150,000 people without power, said state spokeswoman Jill Wilson.

More than 100,000 other customers lost power in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York state, Connecticut, Kentucky and Ohio.

Keywords:
INFOLINE

by CNB