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

DATE: FRIDAY, January 21, 1994                   TAG: 9401210148
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

WINTER DEATH TOLL TOPS 100

The nation's capital came to a virtual halt Thursday as the East Coast remained in the grip of frigid temperatures and snow and ice storms that have been blamed for 130 deaths and cost businesses and governments tens of millions of dollars.

All except essential federal workers were told to stay home, and even President Clinton canceled scheduled events, choosing to stay warm in the White House. He did keep an appointment to appear on CNN's "Larry King Live," but asked for the interview to be conducted at the White House instead of the studio.

The price of keeping federal offices closed for the day was estimated at $61 million, according to the Office of Personnel Management.

Washington Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly threatened to fine any nonessential businesses up to $1,000 if they defied her order to close.

A repeat of Wednesday's rationed electrical blackouts was avoided as manufacturing plants obeyed local governmental orders and closed from New Jersey to North Carolina.

The death toll has been rising daily, even as temperatures edged above zero and, in some cases, reached double digits for the first time in a week.

Kentucky interstates and highways were open Thursday for the first time since record snowfall shut them Monday.

With temperatures in some places 30 and 40 degrees below zero, experts say, even the slightest exposure can be fatal. Among the victims:

Natalie Beroscak, 81, who left her Pittsburgh home Tuesday on the coldest night of the year to check her mailbox. She wore a winter coat, a dress - and slippers. The temperature was 5 degrees below zero. Among the mail she retrieved before dying: an IRS form.

Ann Hubbard, 87, who locked herself out of her Woodstock, N.Y., home Monday night and froze to death on her front porch in minus-11 temperature. Police said Hubbard, who lived alone and had Alzheimer's disease, tried breaking into her house by shattering a front window. "She had the strength to break the glass, but she couldn't push the screen in," Police Chief Paul Ragonese said.

Stella Bilzerian, 69, of Worcester, Mass., who couldn't get into her house because the lock was frozen. Trapped outside in 5-below-zero temperatures, she knocked on a neighbor's door, but the neighbor was afraid to answer.

"I feel so badly that she died all alone," said the neighbor, Doris Hermann, 66. "But you just can't take chances these days. I told police that if it happened 10 years ago, I would have opened the door."

by CNB