Homeless Crowd Shelters as East Shivers

Temperatures dropped to 35 degrees below zero in Vermont and to zero in Tennessee on Tuesday, forcing homeless people to crowd into shelters in major Eastern cities still digging out from back-to-back snowstorms.

Crews plowing roads had to cut through drifts up to eight feet high, and some schools remained closed. Highways around Washington were littered with cars abandoned in the snow Monday.

Since Jan. 21, when the first of two storms rolled up the coast, at least 54 deaths have been blamed on snow, slippery roads and cold from the South to New England.

The official coldest spot in the nation Tuesday was Canaan, Vt., at 35 degrees below zero, the National Weather Service said. “So cold, it’s hard to breathe,” Assistant Town Clerk Noreen Labrecque said.

Record in Albany, N.Y.

Other low temperatures Tuesday included 25 below zero at Clarksburg, Mass., and 22 below at Massena, N.Y. Albany, N.Y., had a record 15 below, and thermometers hit zero in the northeastern corner of Tennessee.

In New York, a record 27,000 homeless people sought shelter from temperatures that dipped to 18 degrees.

In Boston, where Tuesday’s low was 8 degrees, more than 500 people were put up at the 350-bed Pine Street Inn, the city’s largest private shelter, counselor Billy Stamaris said.

Shelters in Tennessee were packed. The Union Rescue Mission set up 200 folding chairs in its chapel, and some men had to sleep in chairs at the Salvation Army shelter in Memphis, even after cots were set up to supplement the 150 beds.

Citrus Groves Soaked

Some Florida citrus growers began soaking their groves to protect trees against overnight lows expected to be the coldest of the season, with temperatures approaching freezing predicted as far south as Lake Okeechobee.

Atlantic City, N.J., remained under a limited snow emergency Tuesday with snow-clogged roads. “We’re still using four-wheel-drive vehicles in some cases as ambulances,” said Jim Masland of the city Office of Emergency Management.

In Washington, many commuters using the city’s rapid transit system experienced more than hourlong delays Tuesday morning as rail authorities were forced to shut part of the system because of icy conditions.