by wildcherry on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 | Travel, Weather

Record snow totals due to a bizzard-producing Noreaster caused a State of Emergency in Pennsylvania and Delaware today. The bad weather conditions from a major winter storm that came into the Mid-Atlantic region and hit Pennsylvania caused thousands to lose electricity.

A disaster emergency was declared at 6:30 am, as 60,000 people in Allegheny County are without power, and fallen trees and downed electric lines have make road travel unsafe, and in some cases impossible.
In addition to Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, and Delaware are under a disaster emergency watch.

“An epic snowstorm has the mid-Atlantic region in its crosshairs. At this time, personal safety must be first and foremost,” said a statement from Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

State police said they were “working numerous traffic crashes and responding to multiple disabled vehicles as the winter storm makes its way across the commonwealth.”

In Maryland, a van carrying a man and three children ran into the back of a private truck hired to help clear roads, according to Gov. Martin O’Malley, who called it a serious accident. The conditions of the victims were unknown.

Traffic piled up in many cities as motorists tried to get home before the worst of the weather hit. Residents hurried to buy shovels, flashlights and other emergency items.

Check on traffic and road conditions

Winter storm warnings were in effect from southern Indiana eastward to New York and south to North Carolina, with blizzard warnings for Washington, Delaware and the New Jersey coast.

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell declared a state of emergency Friday night and ordered all vehicles off the roads by 10 p.m.

By Friday afternoon, forecasters were predicting that the mountains of West Virginia and Maryland, west of the nation’s capital, would receive the most snow, possibly 3 feet.

“Tomorrow will be a day when everybody’s digging out,” O’Malley said. “And Sunday, for that matter, too.”

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