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Snow Continues to Fall in NYC; Blizzard Conditions in Baltimore; Storm Coverage on the East Coast. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired January 23, 2016 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:00:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, this is a forecast than the last 24 hours has jumped up several times.
Just look at how much snow has accumulated on the ground here. I'm walking and every step I take its just about knee high.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm watching the snow fill up outside my window. I mean, it's actually pretty scary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We haven't seen this amount of snow fall in one storm in 94 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a massive, massive storm. This wind is just making everything miserable here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN HOST: OK. It is pretty miserable outside.
Hello, I'm Carol Costello in New York City along with Jim Sciutto in Washington, D.C. And Jim, the snow continues to fall here in New York City, 25.1 inches recorded in Central Park as of 7 p.m. Eastern Time. That would make it the third biggest snowfall in New York's history, the biggest since 1869.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Well, Carol, I'll tell you, the most snow they've seen here in the nation's capital in 94 years. It takes you back to 1922. Two feet in the district, 3 feet in some areas just to the north. Particularly in Southern Maryland. This is one of the many cities along the East Coast that's instituted a travel ban, told people don't drive the cars out on the streets.
Mostly people are listening. I've never seen D.C. this quiet, certainly on a Saturday night. But I'll tell you, the folks who did not listen to that warning, many of them have paid for it. Driving in here I saw a lot of cars stuck in dangerous place, that of course, causes problems for other drivers, emergency vehicles, the plows that are trying to clear the roads.
That's one thing we've heard from the mayor of Baltimore, the governor of New York, the police chief here in D.C. Just in the last hour, they listen to those travel warnings. We just want to make sure our viewers there are hearing that. And I know that you've been saying the same thing to folks in New York, Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes. And they are listening because it's a ghost town here except for the snow plows that are out in about this evening. And speaking of travel ban, the travel ban went into effect at 2.30 p.m. Eastern this afternoon, and it will be lifted in the City of New York and New York State at 7 a.m. That's 7 a.m., 7 o'clock tomorrow morning.
So, they think that, you know, because they banned travel at 2.30 this afternoon, they're going to be able to get all of the snow off the roadways and it's going to be safe to travel. So, that's the good news. The bad news is, boy, New Jersey is getting hit hard, especially the Jersey shore, intense flooding there.
I just talked to the mayor of North Wildwood, New Jersey. There are inches of water there. So, much water in some people's homes that they had to rescue them and those people are now in shelters.
I want to go to Chad Myers. He's in Times Square. Chad, it's not even high tide yet tonight. So, they're in trouble, right?
CHAD MYERS, AMS CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually the high tide would have been at 7 o'clock. But as the mayors there were talking about, the high tide has actually been a couple of hours after the official high tide. The water is still piling in even after the water should be going down.
There's someone driving in the no-drive zone. But as we talk about this, as the water continues to pile up, we have a bubble of high tide. And because there's so much force of water because of the wind, pushing that tide still inward, that's why we still have rising water even an hour and a half now, an hour and 45 minutes after where the high tide should be.
There's another thing we're going to talk about tomorrow, Carol, you're going to hear it, you're going to hear in the news, you're going to hear about the word compaction. What does compaction mean?
Well, somehow, there's 25 inches -- I'm one or three blocks from Central Park. There's 25 inches of snow in Central Park. Well, this is how much snow we have here. This is not 25 inches. So, where did they get 25 inches? Because this has compacted down all day. There may be 18 or 19 inches here. You wake up tomorrow in New York City and go, there's not 25 inches here. No, there's not because it packed itself down.
But what they do when they measure it, they measure it for about three hours, and then they put a stick in it, a ruler and they say, OK, 3 inches. They brush that off and then they start again.
So, three more hours it starts to pile up, they measure it again, 3 inches, and they brush it away. And that's how you don't get compaction, that's how you don't get the snow to go down. That's how you don't get 18-inch snowfalls when it really when measured to be official to be over 26. Still going up about the break the record.
[21:04:57] So, that's what you're going to hear tomorrow, the word compaction. All I can tell you, there's a lot of snow here whether it's compacted or not.
COSTELLO: OK. I learned something tonight. Thank you, Chad Myers. I always learn something from you, and I still appreciate that.
MYERS: I try.
COSTELLO: Oh, thank you. Well, it works. Whatever you're doing, it's good. All right. Let's talk about something not so good and that's the flooding along the Jersey shore. Ryan Young is in a town very close to Atlantic City, New Jersey where the water continues to rise. Take it away, Ryan.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does continue to rise. You have to worry about the idea that in the next few hours more water could be headed this way. In fact, as we've been watching, we can see several different measurements of our own just by watching the street to know that it's still rising.
In fact, I'm going to walk around this corner. We've been doing our best to keep our feet dry here because it is still very cold. If you look this direction, you can see that police officer in the distance blocking off this road. But as we sweep our cameras through the street, you can just see how deep this water is.
We're five blocks away from the nearest water source at this point. And as we look down this road, this boulevard, there's a trash can in the distance. And every single five minutes or so, we see it getting closer and closer to the top.
We've been told that water here has been as high as waist level at some points. So, they're very aware that this could be an area where it could flood at any time. But on top of that we have punishing winds and still have the cold temperatures that are coming through this area.
In fact, it's still snowing. And one of the things that we've been doing is -- and, Carol, I'll show you how we've been marking this. Look back here you can see those white pylons. We've been trying to mark where the water has been going. And over the last two hours or so, we've seen the water move from the one, two, three, four and five all the way back in this direction.
In fact, we have our truck parked where we thought we would be safe but the water keeps coming in. But you really have to feel for all of the business owners along this stretch and the people who live here, because obviously, they are going to be dealing with damage from this water as it keeps pushing its way through. Nothing stopping it.
Obviously, with all of that wind blowing the water back toward the city, you have to really feel for the people who own these businesses and live in this area as they cross their fingers for what could happen next overnight with all of this water that's still coming, Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes. And as all of the snow begins to melt -- you know, I was talking to the mayor in North Wildwood, New Jersey. He said they built this huge dune systems like giant piles of sand to protect the towns after hurricane Sandy. And they're completely destroyed tonight. Are you seeing something similar there?
YOUNG: Well, you know, we stood on the water's edge for quite some time and we knew where the water could come in. There's nothing that can stop it here. In fact, there's no barricade or anything. I'm trying to hold on to my hat here as the wind blows. We're dealing with those wind gusts.
But there's nothing that blocks it from here. In fact, if we were to drive down the street right here, you would go right to the water's edge. And that's where we were the first hour we joined you but we had to move from there because our feet were completely soaked and our car was actually getting soaked at that point. So, that's why we came here.
Nothing to stop it. But the good news here, people have decided to stay inside and not try to drive through this. So, the danger seems to be down from that standpoint. But you have to think about those homes on the other side and the kind of losses they're going to be dealing with.
COSTELLO: OK. So, people are out of their homes now, right, or are they still in their homes. Because in North Wildwood there's a mandatory evacuation in place.
YOUNG: Well, Carol, every time we cover a storm, you know the difference here. There are some people who are heeding those warnings and there are some people who parked their cars up a little higher where they know they don't believe where the flooding will happen and they're in their apartments that are a lot higher here because they've built smart here.
So, you can see there are lights still up here and people have decided to stay in some of these places because they said they're not going to leave for this flood. But I'm sure they're watching it overnight to decide whether or not that has to change over the next few hours.
In fact, we're near a convenient store and up until the time they closed people were coming in for milk and cookies and sobs before they close here. So, you can obviously tell some people were getting ready to watch Netflix or hang out or watch us, because they are watching on newscast early to see how that the flooding would be.
COSTELLO: All right. Ryan Young, try to stay dry out there, and thanks for your reporting.
YOUNG: There's no doubt.
COSTELLO: It just looks terrible along the Jersey shore. My heart goes out to all of those people.
On the phone with me right now is Congressman Peter King of New York. Welcome, sir.
REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: Thank you very much.
COSTELLO: We're just looking at those awful pictures from New Jersey. Are you on Long Island?
KING: Yes, I'm on Long Island and even though we have probably we have two feet of snow. Our report is much better than New Jersey's. I've been in contact all day with the supervisor Shaffer, and Tyler Babylon (ph), our supervising carpenter, councilman Sweeney in the town of Hempstead.
And basically along our south shore which got devastated during Sandy, there's really been no flooding at all, place like Free Port, Lindenhurst, Bay Shore, even Massapequa. There's really been no significant flooding at all.
[21:10:02] And all of Long Island, which has, you know, population of about three million people, there's been less than a thousand power outages so far.
Again, you know, we still have high tide until 10 o'clock. And I don't want to jinx it, but, so far, so good. Now, again, the snow is, you know, 2 feet of snow. But the plows are out there from the towns and the counties, Suffolk County and Nassau County.
So, if you have to have 2 feet of snow, we are actually in fairly good shape considering we were devastated during Sandy. That was an actual disaster, but so far, unlike New Jersey, there's virtually no significant flooding at all on the south shore of Long Island.
COSTELLO: Boy, you are lucky, very, very lucky. OK. So, the snow plows are out. Governor Cuomo says the travel ban is going to be lifted tomorrow morning at 7 o'clock. Is it looking that good?
KING: Yes. I think they can lift the ban by then. And let's say the snow plows have been out since really the middle of the night last night. They've been out there in the Town of Hempstead, Babylon and also Nassau County, Suffolk County.
Democrats and republicans by the way, I should emphasize, they are -- everyone is working together. Governor Cuomo has been extremely helpful. And I know from what Mayor de Blasio is doing in the city that they are doing very well do, too.
And again, I don't want to make this out, which everyone has been locked in the house all day. There's probably people going start crazy. And it is going to, you know, there are going to be complications. I'm sure somebody listening is going to stay that they lost their power sometime during the day or there was some flooding.
But from everyone I've been talking to, the people that are on the job, the people on the highway departments and you know, the counties and the towns, they basically say that there is no real damage being done, certainly from flooding or from power outages. COSTELLO: Yes, you know, it's just interesting when I was talking to
Governor Cuomo, he, too, said that democrats and republicans are working together. And I don't know a part of me finds it kind of sad that you guys have to say that as if to reassure people that we'll put politics aside in times of disaster.
KING: Yes. I guess, you know, those been the times we live in. But, you know, when something does go well, we might as well say it. But, again, we're still going to have snow until probably midnight tonight. High tide isn't going to be gone until after 10 o'clock.
But there's been a wind shift and it's all positive for us so far. But, again, I don't want to have this quoted back against me tomorrow if it turns out that things, you know, go the wrong way. But as of now, it's far better than any of us expected it to be.
COSTELLO: All right. Congressman Peter King, try to stay warm, and thank you so much for taking time out to talk with us tonight. I appreciate it. All right. We'll be back -- we'll be back with much more of CNN's
special coverage of the big blizzard of 2016.
[21:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Welcome back. I'm Jim Sciutto coming to you live from Washington, D.C., the nation's capital where we are experiencing historic snowfall. Well, at least most snow we've seen here in nearly a century, 94 years. You're looking at live pictures there of the Washington Mall, as you can see, it's still coming down here.
But we at CNN are covering this storm up and down the coast. We're joined now by Steve Abbott, he's communications manager for the North Carolina Department of Transportation where there have been a number of storm-related deaths so far.
Steve, thanks for joining us tonight. We know you've got a lot on your hands. Tell us, what is the latest casualty toll so far for the State of North Carolina?
STEVE ABBOTT, NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER: Well, the last that I saw there had been six traffic deaths on the -- with center, simply the families of different crashes across the state.
SCIUTTO: Six traffic deaths. We've heard from so many public officials tonight from New York, to D.C. down to where you are in North Carolina, just reiterating this message, stay home, stay off the road. Some cities and communities even issuing travel bans requiring in effect that people stay off of the roads.
Are you having trouble -- have you been having trouble getting that message out, getting people to heed that advice tonight?
ABBOTT: Well, we believe that a lot of the people are heeding the advice. Governor McCrory said this afternoon pointed out the big danger is much of the state and the central and into the capital area, its ice is the issue. So, the road looks clear but once you get out there it is not and that's where the issues have been.
SCIUTTO: Now let me tell you, I know that in D.C. we're going to have a lot of sunshine tomorrow. Our own meteorologist was just telling us earlier that, of course, you're going to have sun, you're going to be melting some of that snow that's going to lead to ice then freezes on Sunday night.
Where you are, is that a problem you're expecting to deal within the next 24 to 48 hours, strictly as people think about going back to work, going to school on Monday?
ABBOTT: That has been the issue. We had freezing rain and just rain on Friday. It froze overnight which is why we've had a lot of trees down, power lines and the issue on our roads. Mother nature will come in and help out tomorrow, getting into the 40s in most areas. And begin that melting process, and then of course it's going to freeze again on Sunday night. That's why we've been putting out more than 50,000 tons of salt to help sort of stop the freeze unless it gets too cold, mid-20s or below.
SCIUTTO: Steve Abbott, thank you for joining us tonight. We wish you luck as you deal with this in the coming hours and days.
ABBOTT: Thank you very much.
SCIUTTO: In Baltimore, blizzard conditions, they're expected there are through the night and they've had this added problem there, that's really heavy gusts of wind, 10, 20, 30 miles an hour.
We thought a little bit over here but I know that my colleague Miguel Marquez, probably the worst in Baltimore just based on what you've seen. Is the wind still blowing, Miguel?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I want to break some news here. It looks, it looks -- and I'm going to be dramatic here. I think I can finally take the ski goggles off. The wind is settling down. The snow has completely stopped. It's clear and kind of cool right now in Baltimore.
Look on the streets; you can see that they are completely clear. A lot of that snow that was falling earlier has gone. If we turn around all the way over this way, down this walkway this way, this is an area that, you know, yesterday, for 24, 36 hours ago, we were just being hammered with snow and now it is all done, all gone here in Baltimore.
[21:19:59] They are still looking at maybe a record snowfall here. Back in 2003, it was 26.8 inches. They may be approaching that. Some of the unofficial tallies of snow in Baltimore City are already around to 24-inch mark. So, they may hit that.
The area outside of Baltimore, they are up to 36 inches in some places. And the National Weather Service indicating that there may be some places in Western Maryland that get as high as 48 inches of snow, four feet of snow. So, just an incredible snowfall here.
Now getting rid of all of this stuff in the next couple of days are going to be right at the freezing point. It might get a little nit above that, so you would have a lot of ice as you were talking about. Tuesday, the temperature goes up dramatically so you are going to have a lot of melting. But, it's going to take days, if not a week, says the governor, to dig out all of Maryland and get -- and get everybody back up and running. Jim?
SCIUTTO: Miguel, I just want to give you warning, I was speaking with the mayor of Baltimore earlier and she said she has her eyes on your goggles. So, I know you're taking them off but just keep your eyes on them. Someone is after them.
(CROSSTALK)
MARQUEZ: So, does all of Twitter apparently. That's why I wanted to make a dramatic scene about it.
SCIUTTO: Take care of yourself. I know -- I know that you've still got a rough night ahead. Miguel Marquez on the streets of little Baltimore.
Well, the nation's capital it is empty, it's quiet tonight. Snow emergency still in effect. Blizzard warning until tomorrow.
CNN meteorologist, Jennifer Gray. She is in Freedom Plaza, very close to the White House. She's been watching this from the beginning.
And Jennifer, I don't want to get too ahead of ourselves here because this snow, as our viewers can see is still falling. But I live in D.C. It's going to be sunny tomorrow. It's going to melt some of this snow then you start thinking about ice. Give us a sense of what the next couple of hours, but also the next 24 hours is going to look like here.
JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you make a really good point. You know, the snow is still falling. And if you can believe it, Jim, it has been falling consistently since 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon and times during the overnight hours. And today, we've had about snow fall rates at about 2 to 3 inches per hour and we have been piling it up.
But you're right, tomorrow is going to be a completely different scene. We're going to see sunshine, temperatures will be above freezing. Barely above freezing. But when you have the sunshine, we are going to get some melting. And so, that's when we're going to have to look forward to on Sunday night, the possibility of a refreeze.
And so, it's going to be very dangerous as we go through Sunday night into early Monday morning. And so, I know a lot of people are excited to maybe get back to work on Monday. May be a little cough and fever. It may be difficult to do that depending on the road situations.
So, that's something we're going to have to watch very, very closely. But like you said, still snowing. It's going to be snowing for the next couple of hours. Luckily, the winds have died down. That snow it was just brutal. It was blowing all the snow around. We are still getting a little bit of that but it is starting to die down. Earlier, I was on the street talking to a couple of tourists, believe
it or not, from Aspen, Colorado. They are here in D.C. on vacation, but they are not letting the snow get the best of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It hasn't ruined our vacation at all. We're just out for a walk. Our kids are in the hotel playing on their devices and we're here out for a walk enjoying it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it is nice to kind of feels like we have the city to ourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRAY: And, you know, they were really good sports about it. They came here, their family, their first time to D.C. All of the tours were canceled that they were supposed to go on. They said too bad that D.C. doesn't have slopes and ski lifts coming from Aspen. They had to come this far to see all of this snow. You know, they get it on every winter, they get mounds of snow.
So, still a serious situation in D.C. don't forget. I was talking about that web site, you know, people trying to shovel their drive ways. If you can't do it go on that web site snow.dc.gov. If you want to volunteer to help your neighbors out, you can go there as well and help out.
So, Jim, still a serious situation here even though we will be wrapping up. Hopefully, with the snow in the next couple of hours.
SCIUTTO: No question. I'm glad you brought that up. I started shoveling today. Do it in stages. Do a little bit tonight if you got to...
GRAY: Yes.
SCIUTTO: ... or in the morning then wait a little bit and do some more. Because I was winded. I was after an hour or so. And it's good advice to heed. And it's a great web site to go to. So, Jennifer Gray, thanks very much. I know you're going to be down there the rest of the night.
We want to talk more about the situation just across the Potomac in Virginia. Joining us now on the phone is Cotton Puryear. He is the public affairs officer for the Virginia National Guard.
So, Cotton, thanks for joining us tonight. We know there have been a lot of serious traffic issues in Virginia, a lot of -- hundreds of stranded drivers we've been hearing about. What has the National Guard been doing to help?
COTTON PURYEAR, VIRGINIA NATIONAL GUARD PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER: Well, the name of the game for the National Guard in Virginia has been mobility. We've been using our Humvees to be able to assist state troopers and emergency medical support personnel, firefighters to be able to get through the snow to get where they need to go, whether that's been a vehicle crash site or getting medical support to a citizen in need.
[21:25:01] But we've been able to work hand in hand with our state agency partners to make sure that citizens get the help they need.
SCIUTTO: I want to ask you a basic question. Because a lot of folks in D.C. have listened to this warning, stay off of the streets and the roads. But a handful haven't, because when I was driving in, we had a four-wheel drive coming down the main roads that had been plowed. A lot of people just abandoned their cars in the middle of the street, in the middle of intersections.
I wonder what your recommendation is to people -- let's say they've made the decision for whatever reason they go out. Their car stops. Do you recommend they just leave it there so they make an effort to get at the side of the road if they can? What do you tell people in that situation?
PURYEAR: Well, from what I understand from our experts over in the Department of Emergency Management and other places, you're not supposed to just abandon your vehicle. You're supposed to reach out through 911 or dispatch, let them know that you need assistance.
But unfortunately, some folks are having to wait because there's a lot of people out there. They'll get to you as soon as they can. But abandoning your vehicle is probably not the best course of action. So, you should reach out to, like I said, 911 or your emergency dispatcher.
SCIUTTO: Yes. It seems like basic advice. I've seen a lot of cars left in the middle of intersections, of course that starts to just kind of a cascade effect. It's another car stop before you know it you got -- you got some of those road blocked.
And as you say, it's the emergency services who need those roads best most importantly. Cotton Puryear, thanks. We wish you good luck tonight. We know you're going to have a busy night ahead of you.
PURYEAR: Thanks very much.
SCIUTTO: I want to throw now to my colleague Carol Costello, she is in New York. Actually we're going to go to Carol Costello after this break. You stay with us. We got cover -- coverage across the East Coast of this storm throughout the evening. We appreciate you joining us tonight.
[21:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Hello. I'm Carol Costello. Welcome back.
The snow continues to fall here in New York City. Twenty five inches recorded in Central Park. That would be a history making snowfall. And oddly enough, there are people out and about.
In fact, there are a lot of people out and about because the snow is still -- hi. The snow is still falling but it's tapered off only when the wind blows really hard that you realize how cold it is. And unbeknownst to me when I was on the air last time somebody wrote -- and I wish I'm going to try to get a picture of it for you a little later.
But somebody wrote "I love Laura" in giant letters. And we're wondering if Laura can see that from somewhere away up above in a tall building and if there's a marriage proposal going down -- or it's "I love Lauren." Sorry.
So, anyway, we're going to try to track down what that's all about. Jason Carroll is in the West Village. He's been talking to people all day and most of the night. Hi, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All day and all night. Hi, Carol. You know, we've been talking about streets like this. We have seen so many streets like this throughout the city. These huge mounds of snow, underneath cars buried hundreds of them all throughout the city.
I want to give you an idea of just how bad it is for this guy, who this car right here. That is the bumper down there beneath all of the snow here. This is what folks are going to be having to dig out. Here we go to it's a land rover. That's what it is. It's a land rover. We thought it was something else.
This is what folks are going to have to be digging out tomorrow. Tomorrow it's going to be a lot of work for a lot of people, a lot of shovels are going to be out in the street. But for now it's sleds like this one.
You just caught my attention. It's very old school compared to what we saw earlier. It reminds me very much of rosebud but not one because I just gave away that movie. I did not for those people who haven't -- who those people who haven't seen it I won't say any more about that.
Mike, tell me about your day. You've done some shoveling, still have more to go. You're going to put that off until tomorrow, I guess. But you're also going to head off to Central Park where we were earlier.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. Well, what I'm doing is I'm giving my sled a test drive because tomorrow me and my kids, Miles, Phoenix, and Darwin are going to go sledding. So, I wanted to make sure that this old gift I got from Orson Welles still works.
CARROLL: You gave the movie away. You gave them -- get it away. I was trying to hold it back a little bit. Give me a sense of how you think the city faired during this particular storm, a historic storm, got much more snow that many expected, how do think the city faired.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think the city locked out because it's on a Saturday. Not too many, I mean, the kids didn't lose a day of school. And it really came at the perfect time. And we need snow in the winter in the city.
CARROLL: There been storms past, Carol, I know you know this from being in New York, but where there have been complaints about the streets not getting plowed, the salt spreaders is not being out. That does not seem to be the case this time. The city really seem to be on at this stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like I say I was sledding up and down on Harrison Street on Sixth Avenue. So, I was having a lot of fun.
CARROLL: That's downtown for people who don't know those...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's around here.
CARROLL: Yes, that's around here
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I think that the city is doing a good job.
CARROLL: All right. All right, Mike. Thanks very much. We want you get back to your sled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
CARROLL: You can come on through here. This young lady here with her dog. Carol, so I know you were talking earlier about some folks who were sort of wandering out in the streets now. That's because I think people at a certain point get cough and fever. They've been hold up a lot of them all day long, some folks, now just wanting to get out. Tomorrow again, is going to be a day where a lot of people get out here and get back to work doing a lot of digging. Carol.
COSTELLO: You're right, people are out and about because that you're going to still crazy. You know, we're having some problems with falling ice. Are you having any problems like that there in the West Village?
CARROLL: I've not seen any issues with falling ice out here. We have seen a lot of issues with drifting snow and blinding snow at certain times when the wind kicks up. But right now it really seems to be tapering off, and hopefully, fingers crossed, if the meteorologists are correct, the snow should be tapering off and ending just about an hour or so from now.
COSTELLO: That would be a great thing. And another bit of good news to pass along that travel ban is being lifted at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning, so you can get out and about and travel. Although I wouldn't advise it because the roads are still slippery and it's nasty outside and it's Sunday. You should stay home where it's warm and safe.
[21:30:03] And if you have to go anywhere it's best to go on foot. You know, this winter has been all over the place. Remember, back on Christmas Day, I was outside anchoring part of my news cast, Newsroom with Carol Costello, it was 70 degrees outside. I didn't even need a coat.
Look at that. Remember that? That was Christmas Day. It was so warm outside and we're all wondering what happened to winter. And now look at us. It's very cold outside and we have 25 inches of snow. It's just been a very strange January all over the place.
Brian Stelter is right down the street at Lincoln Center. He knows what I'm talking about. Hi, Brian.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: I do. Hello. We are at Lincoln Center. You can see they're actually plowing off this famous location. And no-shows tonight, of course no Broadway shows either.
Amazingly, Saturday Night Live on NBC will still be alive from 30 Rock later. For the most part though, no entertainment in the city tonight. SO, people are making their own entertainment. These snow drifts and these plowed snow areas are so high you can actually turn them into hills to sled on.
We saw these young women out here making this snow drift area into an area to sled. I think they're going to go ahead and try that. I'm not going to try that myself, Carol. I'm going to walk around this giant mound of snow while maybe they do their -- do their sledding here.
But it is remarkable to see just how high some of these -- some of these snow piles are. We actually are -- our roving vehicle was stuck about an hour ago down here where Jason Carroll's location is in the West Village. We had to dig out the car, dig out the SUV that is, because the snow was pretty much up to where you were getting out of the vehicle.
I have to say here, though, and just an hour in new Broadway, Columbus Avenue, these streets are pretty well-maintained right now. Certainly you don't want to be out here if you're not in an SUV or a four-wheel drive vehicle. The travel ban is really being respected for the most part. We can walk over here.
But already in some places you can see pavement. You can basically see the ground. So, we'll see what happens at 7 a.m. when this travel ban is lifted, when cars get back on the road, when we see taxis and Ubers and everything out here. We'll see how the streets fair. But for now, some people at least enjoying it, some of people are here having fun.
And like you mentioned, just a couple of weeks ago, people were complaining about how warm it was. Maybe mother nature is making up for lost time.
COSTELLO: I hope not. I hope not. I hope it's a...
(CROSSTALK)
STELTER: I do have a proposal for you, by the way, Carol. At central -- it was 25 inches at Central Park right now. If we make it to 27 inches, if we get to that number one biggest snowfall ever here in New York, I am going to make a snow angel for you a little bit later here on TV.
COSTELLO: I'm keeping my fingers crossed, Brian Stelter, because I can't wait to see that snow angel sing.
STELTER: Me too. I want to set that new record. See you. Thanks. COSTELLO: Thanks very much, Brian.
You know, I just heard more ice fall. So, be careful if you're walking out on about on the streets of New York City. Because ice is beginning to fall from the buildings for some reason. But it can be quite dangerous. And in fact, one man walked by me just a short time ago and said that he was hit by falling ice. So, be very, very careful.
I'm going to take a break. We'll be right back.
[21:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Welcome back to our live coverage of the storm. Not many cars on the roads. Not many people. So, look who was taking over here in Washington, D.C. The deer turning D.C. into little piece of wilderness in the downtown. We've got a lot of them here. But I think they're feeling pretty much at home tonight.
We've been watching this storm up and down the East Coast. It's a serious storm. Fourteen deaths reported so far. A lot of cities instituting travel bans at this point. D.C. is among them. And not just D.C., Baltimore, New York urging people to stay safe. And the best way to do that is to stay off of the roads tonight.
We're joined tonight by a host of reporters covering this up and down the East Coast. First, we've got Nick Valencia. He's been trips seeing around D.C. and northern Virginia watching as emergency services and the government reacts to this storm.
I got to tell you, Nick, when I was out earlier, I was little alarmed traveling down Massachusetts Avenue, its embassy road, one of main roads here in D.C. I didn't see a single street plow in action. But since I've been standing here during the live shot I've seen a number going down on North Capitol Street. What are you seeing as you go around the capitol?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're seeing thousands of those emergency vehicles lay down salt, lay down brine and making sure that these roads are good to go in case somebody tries to drive out. We're here in a parking lot near a popular mall and you can see none of these cars are going anywhere any time soon.
I'm waist deep in snow here. That's just the aftereffects of the 33rd hour now of consistent snowfall. And we have a great story for you, Jim. We're here, we were just walking around trying to figure out exactly who we were going to talk to and we came across my man, Tommy Burn (ph) here.
Tommy, you're digging out this car here that you have because -- tell me about it. Your wife is expected to go into labor at any time and you want to make sure you have a clear pathway out of here. Is that right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes, we got to be ready. This is not our first time going through it. So, from the onset of labor to birth with our past children, it's been pretty fast. So, I want to be ready. VALENCIA: So, you, guys, have been starting, you've been digging this
out with the help of one of the local hotel staff here. I mean, are you nervous at all that you're going to have to travel on these roads if and when your wife does go into labor?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not too worried because I know that the folks have been working around the clock, like the plow teams, the hotel staff has been great helping me out. And so, I'm not too worried. That they've kept at least the major roads -- the major roads passable. And we're only three miles away from the hospital, so, I think we can get there.
VALENCIA: What about the snow. I mean, we're in the 33rd hour of the snow. You have accumulations, I mean, you can see a waist deep. You know, snow drifts of more than 6 feet. I mean, what does this -- what does this all look like to you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, gosh, it's a -- it looks like a wonderland being able to play and enjoy it. You know, it's -- I guess you can take two perspectives on it. One, you could be scared and, you know, kind of lock yourself inside or just come out and play and enjoy it.
[21:45:02] VALENCIA: Well, we hope that you don't have to drive anywhere on those roads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I appreciate that.
VALENCIA: The government officials they're saying to stay off the roads so we hope for you sake that you're not on them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
VALENCIA: All right. Take it easy. Good luck. We hope everything goes smoothly for you. So many people here are trying to make the best of the dire situation. We know we have some unfortunate news, in fact, to report.
More than 1300 accidents on those roads, according to Virginia State Police. A lot of them minor fender benders, some of them major accidents including one fatality. Two others dying from this cold, frigid conditions of temperatures hovering around 20 degrees. It feels more like 10 degrees.
And we've been hearing from these meteorologists we expected this to last well through the weekend, and that's exactly what we have received, Jim. We've seen this snow just nonstop. At some point, it is heavier than it is at other points. But if you look around me, all of these cars here stuck.
We actually helped a lady, this car here right in front, we helped her get out a little while ago. She was -- she was stuck in the snow, not the best advice to try to brave these conditions, but some people are. The snow plow drivers really are the real courageous ones.
Those that are around the road that some contractions for the Virginia Department of Transportation which went into preparation back in June for a storm like this. The extensive portion of their preparation started on Thursday at 7 p.m. And we see the results and we really see a lot of people heeding that advice from their local county officials staying off the roads.
Of course, there are some stragglers and we hope for the sake of Tommy Burn or that man that we just interviewed that he doesn't have to be one of them. Of course they are preparing in case there is an emergency and his wife eventually does go into labor. Jim?
SCIUTTO: Well, we wish him luck. And as you say, 1300 accidents. You don't need a lot more reminders of just how dangerous it is to be on those roads. Tomorrow comes sunshine and the worry is ice as you get into Sunday night.
Nick Valencia on the streets of D.C.
Right now, vehicles are stuck on the Pennsylvania turnpike because of snow. They've been there for more than 24 hours now. Hundreds of vehicles stuck in some places.
Sara Ganim, she is joining me now from Philadelphia. Sarah, what is being done to rescue those drivers? They certainly do not want to spend the night in these temperatures in their cars.
SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Jim. You know, slowly in the last hour, the snow has begun to lighten up here just a little bit of snow still falling in Philadelphia after a record-breaking day. More than 17 inches recorded at the Philadelphia airport. That beats a record of 11 inches in a 24-hour period. Almost more, I should say, than 15 here in the city and they plan to keep recording because the snow continued to fall after that record was broken today.
They're going to record it again at 1.35 in the morning tomorrow. But the problems have not let yet up, let up here in the State of Pennsylvania. Still hundreds of people stranded on the turnpike.
We're going to show you some video from earlier in the day. I just got off the phone with the State Police in Pennsylvania a little while ago, talking about how they are still trying to rescue some people who are caught up in a five-mile long backlog in the middle of the state along a five-mile stretch of the Pennsylvania turnpike.
Somewhere geographically between Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh. That included a group of about 300 students from a Catholic Church in Omaha, Nebraska who were coming back from a march for life and decided to actually hold mass on the side of the road for some of those people who were stranded along that five-mile stretch.
And thankfully, there were no injuries in that backlog. It wasn't a pileup. It wasn't caused by an accident. It was caused by tractor- trailers who got stuck in the snow on the highway. And because of that state police and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation now limiting who can get on the highways.
I just want to show you a little bit here in center city of what the street still looks like, Jim. You, know, they've been plowing all day and it was until about an hour ago impossible to keep up with the snowfall. You can still see that the streets are covered.
Now that hasn't stopped people here in center city from coming out and taking a peek periodically during the day. There were periods where it was absolutely brutal to be outside with the wind gusts up to 40 miles an hour, and then there were times it was OK, and it was kind of nice to come out and take a look.
We talked to some runners this morning who went for a run, about 100 runners. But officials here hoping that people continue to stay inside tonight because they need to be able to start the cleanup process as the storm moves on out, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Sara Ganim in Philadelphia. Let's talk a little bit more about Philadelphia. A city of brotherly love, independence hall and cheese steaks.
Joining us now to give a taste of what life is like in a city covered in snow, Michael Boninfante, he's an employee of Pat's King of Steaks. If you're ever been there, you know, it's probably the best place to get a cheese steak in Philadelphia.
[21:49:59] And Michael performing tonight. You, guys, a great service to community in a historic snow storm. You are open for business. How do you manage that?
MICHAEL BONINFANTE, PAT'S KING OF STEAKS EMPLOYEE: Well, we're just hanging in here and taking care of anybody who comes up. I mean, we have a lot of plow drivers out right now. And guys have been pulling long hours and they want a nice, fresh, hot steak. I mean, we have to keep it moving.
SCIUTTO: So, how many folks, how many takers have you got tonight? And are there people walking in as well?
BONINFANTE: Oh, Yes. There is a pretty heavy amount of foot traffic out in this area. We have a few bars surrounding us. So, people are out at the bars enjoying their selves. Nobody has work tomorrow, so, you know, everybody is out just, you know, enjoying the snow, grabbing a quick bite to eat, few drinks and relaxing.
SCIUTTO: And I'm curious, you know, why, as we were coming in today there aren't many places open in Washington. I have seen some bars open. I will say that. So, why are you doing it tonight? Is it service to the community? Is it about showing that Philadelphians can take storm like this? What made you keep your doors open tonight?
BONINFANTE: Oh, yes, of course, you can't stop business. I mean, there is like, I said, there is a lot of guys out there doing service work. A lot of the emergency vehicle people. Everybody just need something to eat every now and then to come by for a coffee, refuel, pull over for a few minutes.
I mean, these are the guys that are really out there, you know, getting our city dug out and going to try to get everything moving by Monday morning. So, got to keep it moving. SCIUTTO: So, I got to tell you, I'm tempted to give you our address
at CNN and Washington. What is it, two and a half hours to Philadelphia? How can we put our order? And how far are you traveling from Philly?
BONINFANTE: Well, as long -- as long as there is a heavy delivery fee on that credit card we'll get it down to you.
SCIUTTO: OK. All right. Well, we won't put you on the roads tonight. But next time we're in Philly we're definitely going to come by. Thanks, Johnny from Pat's King of Steaks holding out through the storm making people -- making sure that people can stay warm tonight. Thanks for joining us tonight.
We're covering the storm up and down the East Coast. It's difficult in places. It's dangerous in places. Some people still manages to make it through though. City is responding well. Please stay with us. We'll be right back after this break.
[21:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Hello. I'm Carol Costello. I'm standing on Columbus Circle in New York City. It's very cold outside, 25 degrees. It feels like 10 degrees. And as I told you before, there is a lot of falling ice and we're trying to figure out why that's happening because it's so cold outside. It's not like anything is melting.
The best we can figure is that the lights on the building is warming the icicles that have formed and then they're falling down. Several people have been hit by falling ice passing by on the sidewalk. So, if you are out and about, please, be very, very careful.
It's not going to get much warmer tomorrow, is it Karen Maginnis?
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I's not, Carol. So, that snow is going to be sticking around for a little while, but here is the core of that storm which was so well-predicted by the Storm Prediction Center. Area of low pressure pulls away from the coast. There is still going to be enough cold air that we'll start to see.
The winds diminish but there is still going to be plenty of cold air on the backside of this. So, if it bumps into any moist it might get a little burst of snow. But for the most part, we continue to see a diminishing rate of snow fall, not like that two or three inches an hour. We were looking at the early part of the day.
The winds do die off there, you can see by Sunday, 6 in the evening, we're looking at 20, 25 miles an hour winds gusts. More of those into southern New England than the mid-Atlantic, but it is still going to be very brisk outside.
All right. I mentioned this in the last hour. At Dulles Airport they've reported over 28 inches of snowfall from this particular storm. Now they typically average about 15 inches of snow. Well, in Anchorage, Alaska they typically see about 27 inches of snowfall for a season. Or that's what they have already seen. So, congratulations, Dulles, you have beaten the snowfall record for
-- or the snowfall that they have already seen in Anchorage, Alaska.
All right. Here is what we're looking at over the next five to six days. Where the temperatures stays around freezing in Philadelphia. Goes into the 40s, drops back down. Not any huge temperature changes but it is going feel a lot better because it is not going to be as windy.
Philadelphia, those temperatures bump up by Tuesday into the low 40s, New York City only about 35 degrees coming tomorrow afternoon. Still going to be brisk. You'll see some bursts of sunshine. Not necessarily bursts of snow. And then those temperatures in the 40s, and then by next weekend, you'll go what was happening then?
And you can let us know what was happening then because you can hash tag your images. Hash tag CNN weather. Send us your pictures if it is safe to do so outside. But until then we've got about another five hours or so, Carol, of some pretty good snowfall. It comes in bursts but we're going to add to those totals and see if we come up with even more records.
COSTELLO: All right. Karen Maginnis, thanks, I think at least. I said to Washington D.C. because of course they're dealing with cold and snowy weather as well. Hi, Jim Sciutto.
SCIUTTO: Most here in 94 years. Thirty three straight hours of snow. We're getting the sense it's just about to taper off but it hasn't quite yet, like you there in New York, we're still seeing it come down and we're seeing people just beginning to venture out a bit to kind of get a sense of it all. We'll be watching it as you know as it continues through the evening.
COSTELLO: Yes. We will be watching it and we're going to wrap up this hour of our special coverage of the blizzard of 2016, and take it into the next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, this is a forecast that in the last 24 hours has jumped up several times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just look at how much snow has accumulated on the ground here. I'm walking and with every step I take it is just about knee high.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm watching the snow build up outside of my window. I mean, it's actually pretty scary.
[22:00:01] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We haven't seen this amount of snowfall in one storm in 94 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a massive, massive storm. This wind is just making everything miserable here.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
