Snow covered the dome of the Capitol and fell on the White House: It is expected that between 12 and more than 25 cm of snow will fall on the American capital, according to the Meteorological Service, which put the city and the neighboring state of Virginia under a winter storm warning until 16:00 (21:00 GMT). g).
A winter storm sweeping most of the US East Coast with strong winds and heavy snowfall could lead to “power outages”, “snowstorms” and possible “floods,” the weather forecaster said.
Electricity was cut off to at least 440,000 homes in Virginia and 76,000 homes in neighboring Maryland, and trees fell on high-voltage lines due to snow.
In the face of the weather, the government announced the closure of the federal headquarters in Washington, which led to the cancellation of the daily White House press conference, while the only vote scheduled for today in the Senate is expected to be canceled and postponed until Tuesday.
The city of Washington also announced the suspension of bus trips, as well as the closure of testing centers to detect infection with Covid, and the suspension of the distribution of rapid tests.
And the winter storm exacerbated the chaos that had already prevailed in the flight program in the United States for weeks due to the rise in Covid cases due to the mutant Omicron.
Several flights were canceled from Ronald Reagan National Airports, Washington, as well as Baltimore, according to the Flightaware website.
Many schools were closed in Washington, Maryland and Virginia.
During a press conference, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called on residents to stay indoors, saying, “If it is not necessary, stay at home and do not take the roads.”
President Joe Biden himself faced the storm when he returned to the capital after a vacation of a few days in Delaware, in the east.
His Air Force One remained on the tarmac for thirty minutes, until staff managed to clear the snow from the runway, and then the presidential motorcade took the road very slowly to the White House.
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