Storm Blamed for 63 Deaths Blusters Into Northeast

A far-reaching snowstorm continued to bluster its way up the Eastern coastline Friday, wreaking havoc on motorists and presidential candidates alike and shutting down the government after the nation’s capital was paralyzed with 9 inches of snow.

Heavy snowfall made travel treacherous, and record low temperatures nationwide forced many cities to open emergency shelters for thousands of homeless people. The storm has been blamed for at least 63 deaths around the country.

Among the hardest hit were the Carolinas, which saw record snowfalls of up to 22 inches in some areas. Farther north, heavy snowfalls also hit New York, Boston, Philadelphia and other parts544171552Lakes states.

Worst Will Be Over

“But the worst will be over by this evening,” Lyle Alexander, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Severe Storm Center in Kansas City, Mo., said Friday.

The storm, which started in the Midwest and Southwest and swept though the Southern plains and up the coastal states Friday, “was unusually widespread. It’s not very often you get a snow cover that hits virtually the entire country,” Alexander said. “You had some places in Arkansas and Oklahoma with the heaviest snow on record.”

Temperatures fell below freezing along parts of the western Gulf Coast, and below zero in Oklahoma and northeastern Arkansas. Corpus Christi, Tex., froze for the first time this winter and record lows included 5 below zero at Tulsa, Okla.

A foot of snow in Little Rock, Ark.--”our worst storm in years and years”--sent state elections officials and some presidential campaign staff members scrambling for phones to meet a noon deadline for applications and fees to get on the ballot for the state’s March 8 primary, said Janet Reddin, the state’s supervisor of elections.

As the weather halted mail and express services for more than a day, seven of the 15 major candidates still had not filed papers for the primary only hours before the deadline. Because the state law has no provisions for extending the deadline, “things were getting pretty sticky around here,” said Kip Blakely, executive director of the state’s Democratic Party.

Filed Campaign Papers

All of the campaigns finally got their primary materials through, but only after the staffs of Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) and former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt, also a Democrat, were allowed to deliver their documents and fees to officials in Washington.

In Washington, buses and subways ran largely on schedule, but many drivers stayed home from work to avoid the slick roads and all three of the area’s major airports reported significant delays and cancellations. Police ticketed and towed hundreds of cars to ease traffic problems.

Skeleton crews manned the federal government as about 340,000 “non-essential” federal workers were told to take the day off. An appearance by President Reagan at the Army-Navy Club was canceled, one day after the First Lady called off a trip to Nashville because of the bad weather.

Much activity, however, was found at local videotape stores. “They don’t always want to force their way to work, but they find a way to get to the stores--somehow. Bread, milk, and a movie--to go,” said a corporate official with one of the Washington area’s largest video companies.

‘Got Cabin Fever’

Others did not take the weather so lightly. “I’ve got cabin fever so bad I can’t stand it,” Diana Johnson of Dallas told United Press International. “I’ve been stuck at home for almost three days because of the weather and I’m a little batty. Even ‘Wheel of Fortune’ doesn’t excite me like it used to.”

Some major highways remained closed a second day in the South while stranded motorists waited for tows, and roads were icy or snow-covered from Texas to New England.

In New York City, the storm had left up to 7 inches by midday. Traffic slowed to a crawl as 1,300 plows and 320 salt spreaders hit the streets. Scores of businesses and government offices closed early, and the United Nations was also shut down.

Offering some solace for car owners, the city suspended regulations requiring owners to move their cars. “Errant motorists who were parked illegally got a big break,” said Victor Ross, assistant commissioner for the Transportation Department.

Sections of major highways were closed in Alabama, including Interstates 65, 20 and 59, Sam Parrish of the state Emergency Management Agency told Associated Press.

400 Stranded

About 400 people who were traveling Interstate 85 in South Carolina between Greenville and Spartanburg remained stranded Friday and some prepared to spend a second night in local shelters.

Gov. Carroll Campbell ordered the highway closed in Spartanburg County after calling the snowstorm the worst to hit the state in 15 years. Forty National Guard members worked to help evacuate people along the highway.

More than 400 people, including travelers, homeless and those without heat, spent the night in National Guard armories around North Carolina. The busiest was at Smithfield, which attracted 311 people, mostly travelers from nearby Interstate 95, said Sgt. 1st Class Mike Triplette.

In Atlanta, residents struggled to deal with the city’s worst snowfall since it was hit by a blizzard in February, 1982. A Thursday storm left 3 inches of snow.

Some major downtown department stores reopened for business by midday Friday, but Georgia state troopers were warning drivers of hazardous conditions, and most schools as well as state and local government offices remained closed.

The storm brought Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport, ordinarily one of the world’s busiest, to a virtual halt. Only two runways were open and thousands of grounded passengers, forced to sleep overnight in the airport, were still waiting Friday afternoon to make connections.

Staff writers Eileen V. Quigley in New York and David Treadwell in Atlanta contributed to this story.