Double whammy' of extreme weather grips both US coasts

NEW YORK, United States, March 16 --------- Heavy rain and snow wreaked havoc across the northeastern United States Tuesday, disrupting flights and causing power outages, as extreme weather gripped both American coasts.

The "double whammy," as the National Weather Service (NWS) called it, is the latest in an unusual series of weather fronts to have rocked the country simultaneously. It is hard to establish a direct link between these winter storms, but scientists say human-caused climate change, brought about by the unchecked burning of fossil fuels, is making them wetter and wilder.

New York and New Jersey declared states of emergency to free up additional resources, as a powerful coastal storm called a "nor'easter" barreled through the region and New England. More than 15 million people across the northern Atlantic seaboard were under winter storm warnings Tuesday, with the NWS warning of widespread minor coastal flooding and tree damage. Precipitation and strong winds had knocked out power to more than 260,000 homes across New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont as of Tuesday afternoon, according to website Power Outage.us.

The Berkshires in northwestern Massachusetts had the heaviest snowfall with recordings of 28 inches (71 centimeters) in the town of Windsor. "We have wires down everywhere. We have trees down everywhere, and it's not going to get any better," the local police department wrote on Facebook, urging residents to stay off roads. Multiple schools were closed in Massachusetts and in New Hampshire, where dozens of local elections were postponed.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the snow was going to "come down like a brick," as she urged residents not to leave their homes on Tuesday.

Source: mb.com.ph