{O/C} The relentless snow and frigid temperatures with hurricane-force wind gusts thrashed much of the U.S. East Coast from Virginia to Maine on Saturday.
New York and Boston are among the hardest hit, with tens of thousands of flights cancelled or delayed and people left in the dark.
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Packing winds of up to 134 kilometers per hour, the snowstorm pounded a long stretch of the East Coast from Virginia to Maine.
People woke up to a sorry sight with blinding blizzard conditions and widespread power outages.
Blizzard warnings are in effect in ten states.
Boston is in the storm's crosshairs, with more than 2 feet of snow on the road already. People travelling in their cars are going nowhere fast because the snowstorm with hurricane-force winds threatens to leave devastating coastal flooding and aggravating conditions behind.
{Soundbite} DOMINIC TORRE, Snow Dump Truck Driver: It's pretty hairy, you know, a lot of snow. A lot of snow, a lot of trips, a lot of loads. And it ain't over yet. It ain't done yet.
Videos purportedly showing winds and waves battering a city south of Boston are going viral online.
Forecasters are keeping a close eye on new snowfall records.
New York City and Philadelphia were far from setting all-time records, albeit having witnessed significant snowfall.
At least 7.5 inches of snow is covering airports in both cities. More than 4,500 flights were cancelled across the United States. However, there weren't a lot of stranded passengers, given flights were called off earlier in light of the storm.
Amtrak's high-speed trains were also cancelled or delayed.
Washington and Baltimore got some more snow, but they both were largely spared.
In Massachusetts, a battery of power failures are mounting. Over 120,000 homes and business lost power due to the storm.
With the snowstorm literally burying much of the Northeast, New York Governor, Kathy Hochul, was among those who didn't mince words.
{Soundbite} KATHY HOCHUL, New York Governor: This is a very serious storm. Wind chills of 0 to -10 are dangerous for people, but they're also very challenging for people to salt and get the roads safe again.
With that, the travel nightmare is slated to persist through the weekend.
The worst of the northeaster was expected to batter Canada on Sunday morning. Canadians aren't taking the potentially life-threatening storm in stride. Warnings are already in place throughout a number of snow-prone provinces.
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