WASHINGTON: “It has life and death implications, and people should treat it that way,” warned Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser as a massive winter storm continued to clobber eastern United States on Saturday.

The storm, called snowzilla by the US media, started on Friday afternoon and will continue till Sunday morning, pounding cities from Washington to New York with snow and gale.

Up to 85 million people are in the storm’s path braving up to 14 inches of snow already piled outside their doors and up to 77 mph of winds in coastal area, stirring 20 feet high tides.

Media dubs havoc as ‘snowzilla’

But so far authorities have avoided any major disaster as weather pundits predicted the storm on time, giving them a week to prepare.

Ten states — Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and West Virginia — declared states of emergency and called in troops to deal with the storm.

The city of Washington was among the first to declare a “snow emergency,” as federal government, private businesses, restaurants, bars, cinemas, museums and education institutions shuttered down.

Despite the precautions, more than a dozen deaths were reported nationwide and more than 200,000 people were forced to deal with subzero temperatures without power.

So far more than 9000 flights have cancelled, although airports are operating.

On the roads, police had to deal with more than a thousand crashes and 800 disabled vehicles in Virginia alone.

But authorities reminded people that the storm was not over yet. “We haven’t turned the corner at all,” Baltimore emergency management director Robert Maloney told CNN.

“I wouldn’t say we’re even halfway there yet.”

Mayor Bowser said Washington had received 13 inches of snow by 10 a.m. Saturday, with another 10 inches possible by Sunday morning. But the pile was higher in some suburbs.

“People should hunker down, shelter in place and stay off the roads,” she said.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters they expected 16 to 24 inches of snow in parts of their state.

The Washington Post reported that this storm had the potential to exceed the Knickerbocker Snowstorm of 1922, which dumped 28 inches of snow on Washington.

As of 10am, Reagan National Airport, Washington’s official observatory, located in Virginia, had received 14.8 inches, which already places it number 9 in the rankings.

The US National Weather Service issued another warning on Saturday, reminding people that blizzard alert remains in effect until 6am on Sunday.

It predicted snow accumulations: 18 to 24 inches eastern suburbs of Washington and 24 to 28 inches on the west.

“Heavy and blowing snow will continue to cause dangerous conditions and will be a threat to life and property. Visibility will be reduced to near zero at times in whiteout conditions through Saturday night. Temperatures will in the mid 20s F. Wind chills around 10 degrees F,” the National Weather Service warned.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2016