New York battles to clear snow for New Year

New York has been creeping back to life after the Christmas weekend’s blizzard that buried much of the US northeast.

Said to be the one of the biggest ever snowstorms to hit the city, it dumped 50 centimetres of white powder over a 17-hour period.

Flights to and from New York, Boston and Philadelphia have resumed but there is a huge backlog. The New Year weekend is expected to add to problems, as many flights were already fully booked.

The snowstorm forced 4,500 flights to be cancelled in New York’s three main airports alone.

Even some fire engines and buses got stuck in the snow, and snowploughs failed to reach many districts outside Manhattan.

High winds have been hampering the clear-up effort and many vehicles remain immobile.

New York’s mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to look on the bright side, saying a thaw was on the way.

“It is a nice time to stay at home and enjoy the family and that will let our city workers, who are trying to clean the streets, have a little bit more flexibility,” he said.

Elsewhere, although Washington was spared the blizzard, the snow reached states as far south as Florida.

The storm later moved on to Canada’s east coast, cutting power supplies to thousands of homes.

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