Blizzard Buries East in Brutal Deep Freeze

A blizzard slammed into the Eastern Seaboard on Sunday, closing airports, paralyzing businesses and bringing government to a standstill with knee-deep snow.

Snow continued to fall late Sunday and weather forecasters predicted the historic storm would leave many areas in the region buried under at least 2 feet of snow.

An area from the Carolinas to New York was affected by the storm, but Washington took the brunt, forcing Virginia and Maryland authorities to declare states of emergency and call out the National Guard.

“This is a war on snow,” said Washington Mayor Marion Barry, besieged at the city’s Emergency Preparedness Center. “We are trying to win it.”

West Virginia and New Jersey also declared states of emergencies, and areas such as Kentucky and North Carolina were socked by knee-deep snow that left motorists stranded.

At least eight deaths were blamed on the storm, with two in Ohio and one each in Maryland, Washington, West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.

The storm, fueled by moist air from the south and a frigid flow from the north, is expected to rank among the most powerful of the century when it finally passes out of the area today.

New York Gov. George Pataki declared a state of emergency for the parts of the state hardest hit and mobilized units of the National Guard with ambulances and amphibious rescue vehicles as tides were expected to rise to dangerous levels in some coastal communities.

New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani asked people to stay home today to allow plows and salt spreaders to fight the snow.

The city’s Sanitation Department, its work force under pressure, put out an appeal for private contractors with snow-removal equipment to help. But in many cases the battle to clear streets and sidewalks was futile as fresh flakes soon obliterated the results of shoveling.

Snow sometimes fell at a rate of 2 inches an hour, and the National Weather Service said it could increase to 3 inches an hour. All three airports serving New York were closed.

Meteorologists predicted as much as 2 1/2 feet of snow before the storm is expected to end today. Drifts could rise as high as 5 feet.

Shoppers jammed grocery stores to buy essentials before they barricaded themselves inside their homes, a routine of winter drudgery on the East Coast.

In the nation’s capital, airports, government agencies, churches, universities, businesses, malls and museums were all shut with little expectation of reopening today or even Tuesday.

President Clinton managed to slog through the snow to attend church Sunday morning, but he later called off a budget negotiating session with Republican congressional leaders.

The storm also dealt federal workers an ironic lesson, ensuring that they would stay home today after being recalled to their jobs because Clinton and Republican Party leaders had reached agreement to end the partial government shutdown.

“This is God’s furlough,” said John Isaacs, president of the Council for a Livable World. “If you want a furlough, he’ll show you one.”

The snow in the nation’s capital began falling Saturday night and continued throughout Sunday at a rate of 1 to 3 inches per hour as temperatures hovered in the low 20s and as wind gained strength, overwhelming emergency crews.

Airport crews were unable to keep runways clear and aircraft could not taxi safely. Thousands of passengers were stranded.

Amtrak trains were operating on reduced schedules. Truck stops were jammed as big-rig drivers pulled off highways. The snow was so deep in some areas that tow trucks sent to rescue motorists became stuck.

The relentless storm began as severe rain across the Carolinas and Georgia on Saturday morning, but as it swept north across Virginia it ran into freezing temperatures to produce an abundance of fluffy snow that was whipped by stiff winds.

If forecasts bear out, it could rank as the most serious storm in the mid-Atlantic since 1922, when Baltimore was buried under 24.7 inches of snow, according to the Weather Service.

In parts of rural Virginia and Maryland, the snow was already 26 inches deep on Sunday, the Weather Service reported.

“Public Works is busting their behinds, but this stuff is falling at a rate of 3 inches per hour,” Kerry Payne, an official at the District of Columbia Department of Emergency Services said. “This is the biggest I can ever remember. It’s a good day to be in L.A.”

Times staff writer Marlene Cimons contributed to this story.