Are NY schools closed due to the storm?
Local legislature declared a state of emergency Monday and Tuesday after the first major winter storm of 2021 arrived, blasting New York state.
New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo Monday declared a state of emergency in New York City and nine other counties throughout the Hudson Valley and Long Island. The counties included in the emergency declaration are Sullivan, Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
"This storm is no joke and the main concern right now is that the expected snowfall rate of two inches per hour this afternoon creates an extremely dangerous situation on our roadways," Governor Cuomo said.
"When snow is falling that quickly, it makes it very difficult for ploughs to keep up with it. I want New Yorkers to hear me loud and clear - stay home and off the roads and if you must travel, get where you're going before noon, and expect to remain home for some time. We've been through this before and we will get through it again."
Are NY schools closed due to the snow storm?
Most schools have reopened following closures to in-person learning on Monday and Tuesday due to much reduced mobility across the city and state, but others have remained closed. Some schools have mounted remote learning in light of the adverse weather.
How long does New York’s state of emergency last?
As part of the response to the storm, which Cuomo urged citizens to take seriously, coronavirus vaccination centres were closed, the outdoor portions of the New York City subway were closed and hundreds of flights were cancelled both Monday and Tuesday.
In the emergency executive order released publicly by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, restrictions on travel and road closures were to be in effect until 6am ET on Tuesday, 2 February.
The order itself implemented the state of emergency for three days, implying that by the end of the day on Wednesday, 3 February “unless extended” it would come to an end.
Northeastern storm 2021: worst since 2016?
As of 2 February, parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey received 20 inches of snow. New York City was buried under over a foot of snow and the entire city ground to a halt all day Monday, with some services resuming Tuesday. The 17 inches of snow accumulated on New York’s streets by Tuesday morning surpassed all snowfall the winter before combined.
A National Weather Service meteorologist told the New York Times that the snowfall is the worst the city has seen since a 2016 blizzard which was responsible for dropping over 27 inches of snow on Central Park.
In Allentown, Pennsylvania the police said they responded to a call that a 67-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s disease had walked away from her home early Monday morning. She was later found lying in the snow, dead from hypothermia, according to the county coroner, reports the New York Times.