Power outage in Virginia: Blizzard paralyzes Washington

Tuesday, January 04, 2022

Power outage in Virginia
Blizzard paralyzes Washington

Temperatures will still be moderate at the beginning of the year, but then a blizzard will blow across the U.S. East Coast. In Washington, traffic was light at this time of night, with federal agencies and schools closed. Millions of homes in the state of Virginia are without electricity.

Heavy snowfall has caused massive power outages and traffic delays off the east coast of the United States. The state of Virginia was particularly affected, with about 400,000 homes without electricity on Monday evening (local time). Dominion, a local company, warned customers that it could take “several days” to restore power in some areas. Due to the heavy, wet snow, the trees fell and the branches fell, Dominion warned.

In the nearby capital, Washington, according to the Meteorological Service, about 20 centimeters of fresh snow was measured in just a few hours. The federal government had already instructed its officers and staff on Sunday evening not to come to work on Monday, as federal officials closed the Corona checkpoints as well. There were no cars on the city road and bus traffic was stopped. Hours after the last snowfall, the roads were still unclear. The reopening of schools in Washington after the holidays was postponed to a day Thursday, with ample time allotted for the necessary corona tests before classes begin.

U.S. President Joe Biden also felt the blizzard firsthand: when he returned from his home state of Delaware, there was a delay when Andrews arrived at the military airport due to snowfall. As Biden left the government plane in the blowing wind, snow rushed towards him from the right. As the 79-year-old descended the stairs, he grabbed the rail with his left hand, and it seemed as if he was holding his right hand over his ear. According to journalists who traveled with him, his motorcade’s return to the White House was unusually slow due to snow barriers.