If you take a look at social media today, the topic of the day is "snow." You'll see photos of kids playing in snow. You'll see dogs romping around in it. You'll even see a giant panda at the National Zoo rolling around in the snow. You'll read people's complaints about the snow, and you'll feel the excitement in the posts of Southerners who rarely get to see the white stuff.
But along with the snowballs, snow angels and snowmen come stranded motorists, canceled flights, power outages and fatalities. The huge winter storm pounded much of the eastern United States on Saturday, dropping more than three feet of snow in parts of the country.
Eleven states declared states of emergency: Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia, CNN reported. Washington has declared a "snow emergency."
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The storm has led to nearly 1,000 traffic crashes, CNN said. Virginia State Police responded to 793 disabled vehicles as of late Friday night. More than 6,680 flights were canceled for Saturday and Sunday, according to FlightAware.com. At least 14 people have died nationwide - six in North Carolina, three in Virginia, one in Kentucky, three in New York City and one in Maryland, according to CNN. The Associated Press reported that the storm caused at least 18 deaths.
Washington, DC, had up to 13 inches of snow by 10 a.m. Saturday, with another 10 inches possible by the time the storm passes, Mayor Muriel Bowser told CNN.
"There are too many people on the streets, both driving and walking" in Washington, Bowser told CNN on Saturday morning as heavy snow continued to fall there.
She warned that visibility is poor so people who walk or drive in the area are in danger of getting hit by road crews, CNN said.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a travel ban Saturday, which shut down roads and some train service, New York Daily News reported.
State and New York City roads closed to all traffic except emergency responders at 2:30 p.m., according to New York Daily News. Metro-North and Long Island Railroad service stopped at 4 p.m., and MTA stopped service for exterior subway routes at 4 p.m., the newspaper reported.
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New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority suspended bus service in New York City at noon, according to New York Daily News.
More than 50 people were forced to leave their homes around Atlantic City due to "significant flooding," Atlantic City's emergency management director Vince Jones told CNN.
Duke Energy reported that about 140,000 customers were without power in the Carolinas, according to CNN.
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