Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Northeast Slammed by Monster Blizzard; State of Emergency Declares in Massachusetts

Aired January 27, 2015 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK CITY: This will most likely be one of the largest blizzards in the history of New York City.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: This is nothing to take lightly.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: This is going to be a lot of snow no matter how you add it up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've already seen a few accidents and just people swerving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're prepared no matter what.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay home. The roads are horrible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's going to take our crews days to clean up.

GOV. CUOMO: It could be a matter of life and death and that's not being overly dramatic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It will not be done when you wake up in the morning; it's going to keep going

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, January 27, just before 6:00 in the East. I'm Chris Cuomo and the streets of New York City effectively shut down for hours now. Now, this was one of the several big cities in the northeast brought to a complete standstill by this powerful blizzard.

Alisyn?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Chris. I'm Alisyn Camerota, here in our New York studio. Michaela Pereira is in Connecticut. She is basically stuck in the snow in her hotel room. She will join us live as soon as she can dig out.

There are tens of millions in the northeast still under winter weather advisories this morning, with the worst still to come in many areas. So we have reporters covering this crippling storm for you from several states, but we want to start back outside with Chris. Tell us what you're seeing out there, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, here in New York City, we may get lucky. I have Chad Myers here; he's going to come and give us all the science of it in a second. The warning for a natural blizzard has passed in New York City so that's good. There's still going to be snow. Chad just told me it's like 20 degrees out here, so it's plenty cold. And it would be very difficult to drive, but supposedly, the worst is over for New York City.

But the worst is not over for other reasons, especially around the coast. Let's show you some of the pictures that we're seeing here of the blizzard effect. Obviously it makes sense to stay inside. Obviously, this is day to take a pass.

You heard about 7,000 flights canceled, Amtrak being suspended on the big cities in the northeast. Certainly New York City, the city's subway system was shut done -- by the way, for the first time in more than 100 years -- because of the snow.

One group of people that are happy about this? The students. School is out for the day. We have one of these plows. You know, a lot of the commercial sectors in New York City are plowing their own areas, because they were that worried about what's going to happen. The one on the backside was getting stuck before. But they're moving through, and there's a lot of that.

So let's bring in Chad Myers now. The big thing is -- oh, look at you, you're crying.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm not crying.

CUOMO: The sad thing is that people will see this and say, "I'm going outside."

MYERS: Yes.

CUOMO: "This is fine. I don't care about the emergency thing." Like this guy right see. You see this car coming by us? Technically, if he gets stopped, it's a huge ticket.

MYERS: Yes. It is.

CUOMO: Huge ticket.

MYERS: It's a hundred bucks or more.

CUOMO: So what should we know?

MYERS: You know, New York really got missed. I'll be honest with you. But it's the exact forecast we talked about yesterday, on that GFS, the new model. It said 10 to 12. There's 10 inches out there. That's exactly on that model. But it's the first time we took that model out for a test drive. It's

like the first time you take a Tesla out. You're going to like it or not. Well, we just took one out. We took the brand-new model out. We took the brand-new car out, and we liked it. It really did well.

But I'll tell you who's not getting missed: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Long Island, Massachusetts. The word "historic" still works out there. The word "historic" here is a bust.

CUOMO: Now, is it true? I was looking at during "EARLY START," I was watching the storm track.

MYERS: Yes.

CUOMO: That when it stalls over an area, to my mind, that means, "Oh, good. It's stalled. That means it's done." It actually means the opposite, right?

MYERS: You're old enough to remember Hurricane Agnes. I remember that. That was in the Poconos. A hurricane stalled over the Poconos and flooded the entire Susquehanna River Valley. When a storm stalls, all of a sudden, the snow continues or the rain continues, in the form of the hurricane. But the snow continues in the same spots over and over and over. In eastern Long Island, Montauk -- we have a picture there -- it's just unbelievable. It looks like you're on the surface of a different planet. Or it looks like you're at the North Pole.

CUOMO: But that was the trade for us. Chad and I were thinking, you know, he had to do all yesterday and last night. We were thinking should we go out to Long Island? That's where I live. And we were afraid we wouldn't get a signal out.

MYERS: Yes.

CUOMO: We were right. Let's go there right now. Montauk is the end of Long Island. OK, that's how it's called, the end. We have Cristina Alesci there. Cristina, can you hear us?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I can. It is, in fact, as you said...

CUOMO: Wow.

ALESCI: ... the most eastern tip of the South Fork of Long Island, and it is getting hit pretty hard. Pretty hard. Still being pounded by the snow. The three major concerns here, of course, are the wind and how it may affect power lines, coastal flooding, beach erosion and, of course, snow removal, because visibility is just so tough right now.

And I'm standing right by the beach, and yesterday visibility was really, really tough. And this morning, I can't even see the beach.

On the wind front, anything above 30 miles an hour will affect power lines. At least, that's what we heard yesterday. And we know that it's above 30 miles per hour now, because we couldn't get the satellite up. So that's one thing. The other is beach erosion. You know, this community, as you know, Chris, was really traumatized by hurricane -- actually, Superstorm Sandy. And they were just starting to rebuild their town beach...

CUOMO: Right.

ALESCI: ... and reinforce it, because it was destroyed because of Superstorm Sandy.

And, of course, snow removal on the roads, visibility can make it tough for the plows to get out there. And once you have a significant amount of accumulation like we have now, it gets harder and harder to clear that snow out. You've got to bring bigger equipment in. So those are the challenges for the residents and the business owners out here this morning -- Chris.

CUOMO: Well, and Cristina, you know, there's no question you can call it hurricane, super storm, whatever you want to call it. They were really smashed out there. They're concerned about it. That's also a big fishing outpost still there, and people are worried about their commercial boats, worried about being -- what's the word on the ground there about how people are handling it with another 12, 14, 16 hours yet to go?

ALESCI: Well, everybody is really hunkered down at this point. You know, we drove through town, and there wasn't much activity yesterday. This particular hotel that we're staying at had a whole restaurant basically taken over by the ocean during Superstorm Sandy.

So people are concerned, but they're more concerned about the tide. And yesterday, we saw tides come up about two to three feet above average. That is not a concern just yet. So the major concern right now seems to be power. And of course, this community got hit with Superstorm Sandy and power outages. We don't have reports of those yet. But that is the major concern right now, Chris.

CUOMO: You know, and you're talking about the tide, Cristina. It's a very important point. Because you know, every six hours you have a tide cycle from high to low. Right? And when it's high, while salt water doesn't freeze the way standing water does -- let's bring in Chad Myers for this -- it can freeze once it gets thin and up onto the roads. And it also makes the snow that you have to remove very heavy. Those are my people out there. You know, I've been getting phone calls all through the night. They're having trouble moving it because of how heavy it is and how slick it gets.

MYERS: A salted road will freeze at a certain point. Salt can only do so much for so long and then, all of a sudden, it will still freeze. So when that water gets up on the roadways, it could actually still be a sheet of ice.

CUOMO: All right. So the problem is you're living out in Montauk.

MYERS: Yes.

CUOMO: You're living in New York City, you're like, "I'm only 95, 100 miles away."

MYERS: Not even, yes.

CUOMO: What does it mean that it stalled there? Why would it stall there? And how is that going to change their timeframe?

MYERS: It's doing a slight loop in the Atlantic Ocean. The low came off the coast, and we thought, we hoped it would keep on going like a clipper. It's doing a slight little rotating back and then come back in. That's the classic nor'easter.

When people think about the '60s and the '50s, when the nor'easters were just pounding, if a storm went out to the ocean and came back to them a little bit, and then finally left, that's where you get that pinwheel effect. And it just gets slammed. For hours.

CUOMO: So that rotation, it will cycle through, but the question is when?

MYERS: At least another 18 hours for them up there.

CUOMO: Eighteen hours.

MYERS: For Boston, as well. And it's snowing in Boston. We're going to get to that picture. It's snowing two inches an hour in Boston.

CUOMO: Now, you know, yesterday Chad, you know, just found a beautiful way to describe this, Christina, by calling it the Ho-Ho effect. But you know, out there for them, it's no joke.

MYERS: No.

CUOMO: As Chad is saying, for another 18 hours. How bad is it standing out there? I know we put you, you know, in the extreme there, so people can see what the worst of it is. But what's it like there?

ALESCI: It's pretty bad. The wind is awful, and you know, it's hard to tell how much snow is actually falling versus the snow that's being whipped up by the wind.

So that, and as you mentioned, Chris, it's really heavy snow. This is not light powder. This is really dense, wet snow. That's the kind of snow that, if it accumulates on power lines, is going to take them down.

CUOMO: All right. So we're hearing that high tide out there will be 3:15 p.m. So that's going to be very important time for you to be watching, because you'll have, you know, another three to four feet of tide. More water available to get whipped. People are talking about drifts that are getting blown up there, up against the houses near the coast and then, because of the salt air, it's actually getting a layer of ice on it. That's going to be very dangerous.

Christina, I'm sorry to over talk it while you're standing out in the cold. Go get in the truck. We'll get back to you. Thank you very much for the reporting out there. It's going to be an important place for us, Christina. I'll get back to you with Chad.

ALESCI: Absolutely.

CUOMO: Right now, let's get to Michaela Pereira. She's live in New London, Connecticut, where the blustery winds, mixed with heavy snow, made conditions incredibly dangerous, even from someone from the frozen reaches of Canada. That's where Michaela grew up.

So Mick, how are you doing there? Are you wearing your coat?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: I am so. I've got my supporting (ph) pants on. I've got so many layers of clothing on.

We're getting a face full of wind right now. That's really what the big story is here right now. We've been standing outside. You probably heard Chris tell us -- tell you, rather, that we tried in vain to get our car out of this parking lot, which has not been plowed yet; and there's no signs of any plows coming by in the next while any time soon.

It's actually not that terribly cold out if you're dressed for , but it's this wind. I don't know if my producer, Miguel, who's my camera operator today, can show you. The wind is whipping around, and this is really, really fine snow right now. It's hard to determine how much snow is actually falling, because it feels as though the wind that is -- is coming through is picking up the snow that's fallen.

We've got an incredible amount of accumulation. If Miguel can show you over here, these are cars that have been parked overnight. People heeded the warning of the governor here to stay off the roads. We're at our hotel. This place is packed, by the way. The cars that have been parked overnight, you can't tell how much snow actually fell, because there's a whole lot of wind whipping up and pushing the snow into drifts along the vehicles.

It took a half hour of good old college try to get our vehicle out of the parking lot. As Chris said, I'm a Canadian. I grew up driving in the snow. We couldn't budge. We have snow tires. We tried everything. We couldn't get anywhere.

People are heeding the warning, though, and not trying to get out. We haven't seen any vehicles out on the road, except for one snowplow at a nearby business, and that guy was taking his time.

The big concern, obviously, here is when the snowplows are going to get out. We have no idea, Chris, at this point. But we're going to keep watching the situation. As soon as the plow comes out here, we're going to try and get out there on the roads to get a sense of just what the conditions are right here. But the big thing: that wind. It's kicking up something fierce.

CUOMO: So Mick, what do you think the difference is between, you know, what you're seeing from, like, a drift effect, how high you're seeing it on the side of the cars? You know, it's a nice kind of raw measure of what it's doing. PEREIRA: I'm going to go -- I'm going to do an experiment for you.

I'm going to walk back a few steps. You might not be able to hear me, because we're on Skype here. But it will give you an idea.

CUOMO: Look at the Mick go.

PEREIRA: OK? So you know it's -- well, I'm a tall girl. I'm about 5'7"; with hair, 5'8". But that's up to my knees quite easily, Chris. It's really interesting to watch how the snow changed. We drove up -- I should tell you, here in New London, Waterford, we're about 50 -- 55 miles from the city. On a normal day that should take you, what, I don't know, with a little bit of traffic, maybe two hours or so. It took us four and a half hours. There wasn't a lot of accumulation on the street. There wasn't a lot of crazy wind. But people were taking it easy, which was great. There's a lot of people trying to get where they needed to go before that 9 p.m. traffic travel ban.

I watched the snow change. At one point it looked like little tiny crystal stars. It then changed to crumbs, and then it changed to big flakes like what I'm used to seeing out on the West Coast. Right now, it's like icing sugar. It's like powder, and that's what's whipping around right now around me.

CUOMO: Mick, I love all the different adjectives that you use to discuss the snowflakes. Chad was writing them down here with me.

PEREIRA: I like snow, I'm a Canadian.

CUOMO: I want you to know, I respect that. To me it's either -- snow, it's either brown, yellow know or white snow. That's the only kind of snow.

I know. But Chad is saying that that's temperature dependent, what you're describing right now. As it gets colder you'll see a difference in the precipitation.

MYERS: Sure. You know, even when I grew up in Nebraska, it could snow with a clear sky. The ice crystals get so cold that it can actually snow coming all down. And Jennifer Gray is -- I know she's standing in pounding wind, too, so let's get to her.

CUOMO: Yes. So Jennifer, you're up there. You're bearing down. The storm obviously, as we've been hearing from Chad and as you know as a meteorologist, it's stalling up near where you are in Massachusetts; Boston, specifically. What are the conditions?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, the conditions here in Boston, right here by the harbor; and, you know, we haven't had a lot of erosion, because we are protected here with the harbor.

But farther up to the north, say around Roxbury Port, even around Plymouth, we've had some considerable -- considerable beach erosion where that water will come on in during that high tide. Now the tide is starting to relax again. So we'll see what will happen during the next 12 hours on the next cycle. But look around. You can see the snow coming down pretty hard, I

would say coming down at about an inch or two an hour. Definitely the heaviest it's been since we've been out here.

Of course, the snow very hard to measure out here because of the wind. The snow will just blow around. But we have had official reports of about seven inches of snow so far here in Boston. And you can see me just kicking it around. Very, very fluffy out here. We already had about two inches on the ground. But we are continuing to get it, and we could be in this for another 12 to 18 hours. So we could easily pick up another foot, foot and a half of snow here in Boston.

Of course, we only have winds right now at about 10 miles per hour. Of course, that fluctuates, depending on when those bands come in. We have had winds a lot higher, of course. Right around Nantucket, a ham radio operator reported a wind gust -- see, there's one right there -- of about 78 miles per hour. Of course, we haven't anything like that here in Boston.

But we're going to be here for quite a while, Chris. It looks like it's going to be continuing to come down, once those bands come through, that snow will really start to pile up.

CUOMO: All right, Jen. We'll get back to you. You're a pro at this. Make sure you get warm when you can.

Alisyn, we're going to come back to you. You know, we've been checking in with a lot of government officials. And obviously, it's easy, especially if you're in the New York metropolitan area, in Philadelphia, to start bringing a little stink, you know, to the government, saying you kind of overhyped this.

There are a couple of points they're making. One, as Chad's been pointing out, you have 12, 15, 18 hours left of this. Some of the areas, obviously, that we just saw, where Jen is and where Mickey is and out on the Island where Christina Alesci was, it's not over for them by a long shot. As Chad told us, the storm has stalled.

Also, government officials are saying nobody wants to shut things down less than they do. Because it's very expensive, and it winds up stopping commerce; and they get criticism. So they're heeding the same calls they have all along, Alisyn. Stay inside if you can. This is a day to just let the work day skip; better safe than sorry.

CAMEROTA: We're going to put all of those questions to Mayor Bill de Blasio when he comes in here to talk to NEW DAY in about an hour and a half. But we understand, of course, it is hard to outsmart Mother Nature and figure out the timing of these things perfectly.

But meanwhile, Massachusetts, as you just heard from Jennifer, is getting hit especially hard. We want to bring in Rene Fielding right now. She's the director of the state's Office of Emergency Management.

Good morning, Rene.

RENE FIELDING, DIRECTOR, MASSACHUSETTS OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (via phone): Good morning. How are you?

CAMEROTA: I'm doing well here in my warm, toasty studio. How are you doing up in Boston?

FIELDING: We're good. I'm at the city's emergency operations center right now, and we had a pretty good night. Lots of crews out. And we're just getting ready. Right now is when we're really starting to see the snow pick up, coming down, you know, two to three inches an hour; and we're seeing the winds pick up.

CAMEROTA: We were reading about this family, a family's house that went up in flames in the Worcester area. Luckily, the family was able to get out safely. Can you tell us how busy your first responders have been overnight?

FIELDING: So in the city of Boston we had a couple of fires. Nothing -- nothing major, though. And EMS probably had about 30 transports, but that's pretty normal for a night for them. So we've been lucky. And we haven't had any power outages in the city that have lasted longer than an hour.

CAMEROTA: That is lucky.

FIELDING: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Now let's talk about what you're looking at. Chad Myers has told us that you have another 18 hours of snowfall up there. How much accumulation have you had so far, and what are you expecting for the day?

FIELDING: So our public works crews have been reporting that we've just under a foot of snow in some of the sections of the city. And we're expecting to get another foot to a foot and a half of snow during the next 18 hours.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh. So when you have two feet or two and a half feet of snow on the ground in Boston, and the cape and the surrounding areas, then what? What will happen in the city?

FIELDING: Yes, so we 00 the public works crew focused on getting those main arterials widened. We've got a snow emergency parking ban in effect. So people can't park on the main roadways. And we clear right to the curb, and then they immediately start, when they've got those streets done, on the secondary. And then they start doing snow removal and bringing the snow -- trucking the snow out to what we call snow farms and dumping the snow there.

CAMEROTA: Look, I mean, Boston is no stranger to snow. I think it snows there all the time, but not to this degree. How long do you think it will take get the city operating again after a snowfall like this?

FIELDING: It takes about a couple of days. We -- the mayor canceled school for Tuesday and Wednesday. So to give everyone enough time to make sure that we can get all those streets cleared around the schools and insure that we can get the piles knocked down on the corners where the kids wait for the buses.

So we're planning on working straight through today and all through Wednesday and getting the city back up and operational for Thursday.

CAMEROTA: If you have two and a half feet of snow, if that's what it ends up being at the end of these -- this next 24 hours, is that a record-breaking snowfall in Boston?

FIELDING: So the record, I believe, is 27.5. And that was a President's Day storm in 2003. So if we get over 27, it will be a record.

CAMEROTA: Well, look, Rene, we have the records for you here on screen right now. The ones that you were just talking about in 2003, 27.5 inches. In 1978, 27.1. Back in 1969, 26.3 inches. In 1997, I was living in Boston during that storm in 1997. I remember that on April 1, April Fool's Day, 25.4 inches. And then in 2013, 24.9 inches.

Rene, is there a travel ban right now in the city of Boston?

FIELDING: There is. And it's really important that people adhere to that. So it's going to get really bad. They're going to get up and want to start, you know, getting around the city. But it's going to be blizzard-like conditions with zero visibility, so it's important that people adhere to that so the public works can get out there and stay focused on the streets.

CAMEROTA: Everybody, just stay in your pajamas, get a cup of hot cocoa and ride this out.

FIELDING: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: Rene Fielding, thanks so much for giving us a status report. We'll check back in.

FIELDING: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get back outside to Chris, now with how it's going on the streets of New York -- Chris.

CUOMO: Alisyn, don't be shy about bringing any of that cocoa down here to me and Chad, by the way. I've already just about had it. I don't know -- I grew up here. You think I'd be ready for the cold. I can't handle it.

CAMEROTA: I'll bring you some.

CUOMO: Thank you very much.

So here's what we know. j In some of the big cities, the blizzard warning has passed, right, but a lot of people commute into this city from as far away as Connecticut, Montauk, Long Island, where it's getting hit very hard, as well as in parts of Jersey that still have to be concerned. Connecticut, though, they're going to be dealing with a lot of trouble

there for all day and into the night. The governor there, Governor Malloy, he has said you have your travel ban on the highways. Stay clear. Let this state of emergency do its job in response to this storm.

Let's check on conditions there with Lieutenant Paul Vance. He's a spokesman for the Connecticut State Police.

We've been hearing, Lieutenant, that this is still on for you, in terms of the risk, especially along the coast. Twelve, 16, 18 hours. You know people are questioning whether or not they were over-prepared for this and that they should go about their normal lives. What's your word to the wise?

LT. PAUL VANCE, CONNECTICUT STATE POLICE (via phone): Well, we're certainly experiencing -- we've been reporting treacherous conditions up here in Connecticut. The governor did put that travel ban into place. It has been extremely helpful.

The conditions are dangerous out there, to put it bluntly. The wind is blowing. The snow is coming down sideways. The roadways, we're trying to keep them -- the DOT and DPW is out there really doing a great job. But as they clear it, the snow just fills back in, and they keep going back and forth. We will get through this, but we need cooperation.

CUOMO: And obviously, one of the big risks is, people may think they can get out and take it on with their vehicle. But if something happens, what is your ability to get to them?

VANCE: Well, we distribute manpower all throughout the state with our specialty vehicles so that we can get to any emergency. But certainly, the travel conditions for first responders are slow and difficult, and certainly, people have to understand that. And that enhances the danger even that much more.

The best thing to do is just -- is certainly ride this storm out. Pay attention to all the media updates and all the media information that's being provided, and certainly abide by the requests that are made by the state and city officials.

CUOMO: One of the concerns, obviously, in your line of work is that the normal becomes the extraordinary because of the conditions. What have you had in terms of situations you've had to deal with, people getting stuck in bad situations? Have you been able to get to people? Is the ordinary course of business, in terms of getting people to the hospitals and allowing for life to go on when there is an emergency, are you able to do the job so far?

VANCE: Yes, we are, and certainly, our hats are off to the plow drivers and DOT and DPW workers. Because certainly, they are called into service also. When we have emergencies, we need to get to people.

But certainly, we did have time to preplan and to get things ready, and certainly everything was in place. You know, the governor has the National Guard on standby. We have all the Connecticut State Police Department in its entirety on call and ready to go. But we -- so far, so good. People are being very cooperative. And this too shall pass. We will get through this, but it's going to take some time, as the forecast indicates the snow is going to continue to fall here in the state of Connecticut.

CUOMO: Any need for rescue yet? Anybody you've had to pull out of their homes and get to the hospital? Or anybody who's been put in a bad situation because of power? Obviously, wind and snow, very tough on transformers and power lines. How are you doing so far?

VANCE: So far, so good. Certainly, the power companies up here in the state have been deployed, and they've been stationed in strategic locations around the state of Connecticut.

Again, there was a lot of preplanning that went into this with the emergency operations center, under the leadership of Governor Malloy. We've been really prepared for this in every facet of the imagination. We -- power lines, law enforcement, EMS, everybody is pulling together, because we know this is a dangerous situation. And we're doing our best to manage it.

CUOMO: Long Island, we're hearing here along the coast, they've had some power issues, sporadic mostly. Do you know any numbers in terms of who has lost power yet?

VANCE: No, I have not -- I have not gotten specific numbers from the power companies at this point in time.

CUOMO: All right. Lieutenant, thank you very much. I know you have a lot of work to do today. Feel free to check back in with us as conditions change. We'll get the word out to people for you. And the best of luck up here.

VANCE: Thank you, sir, very much. Very helpful.

CUOMO: All right. Alisyn, back to you upstairs.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris.

Our coverage of this historic blizzard will continue throughout the morning. This storm is still very active and dumping snow, so we are tracking it for you as it moves up the East Coast right now.

And remember, you can send us your best pictures and video of this blizzard, but be safe of course. Tweet us, @NewDay, using the hash tag #CNNsnow. Or you can go to Facebook.com/NewDay. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back. We are tracking every moment of this monster blizzard that is pummeling areas of the northeast.

Do not be deceived by what's going on behind me in New York City. The blizzard warning here has moved on. There's still going to be snow throughout the day. But for New York City and areas of northern New Jersey, the blizzard warning is not in effect. In fact, it's ticked up to a balmy 21 degrees.

So this is the sublime moment in a situation like this. You'll never see New York City like this, except when you have these kinds of conditions.

The city has been shut down. It's a white wonderland for people here. The stock exchange is closed. Stores aren't open. Schools are closed.

But this is the good part of the story. This blizzard has a very different face that is very severe. The storm, according to Chad Myers, has stalled over parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut and is swirling. That is dumping large amounts of snow and creating swirling winds there that are creating those drifts that we've heard about.

One of the places that it's still being very hard hit, Rhode Island. The governor there declared a state of emergency, warning people to prepare, be patient, stay put. That state is no stranger to severe snowstorms. People there dealt with similar conditions just two years ago.

We have Sara Ganim live in Providence for us. Sara, what's the situation there right now?

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, it is absolutely brutal here, the wind right now. I'm about to go grab my ski goggles, I think. I mean, we are just getting pelted in the face with drifts of snow.

And it has been windy here all morning, I have to say. But in the last 20 minutes, it has really, really picked up.

The wind, tropical-storm-force winds. We expect them, really to -- this is the -- these are the hours that we expect them to peak.

Now a little bit of good news here in Providence, I'm in the main square. This is the -- the transportation hub, essentially, of Providence. And it's not busy at all this morning. The only vehicles that you see on the road are the salt trucks, the plow trucks. They've been coming by, keeping the streets relatively clean.

But we have seen that people are heeding those travel warnings. And hopefully, that's -- that's led to some other good news, which is that we've checked with officials, emergency management officials here. No one has had to go to a shelter in the city of Providence or the surrounding areas. And there are no significant major power outages here. So that's a little bit of good news.

But here in Rhode Island, there are some other concerns. This is, of course, a coastal state, Chris. And all, every single one of the coastal communities in this state is under a flood watch right now because high tide actually coincides with the worst of the storm.

And that is happening, I have to say -- personally from experience can tell you -- right now. These are the peak hours. Not just for the snowfall, but also for the wind.

And the wind, Chris, is the thing that I've noticed the most when you're standing out here. It is what sets this storm apart from -- from others. You know, Rhode Island deals all the time with snow and cold. And speaking of cold, it is about -- it feels like about negative 2. That's the real-feel temperature out here right now. But this wind is -- is tropical-storm-force winds, and you can -- you can certainly feel it when you're standing out here.

CUOMO: Well, look, that's what they've been describing to us, Sara. Is that this is a hurricane with snow instead of wind (sic) and you're talking about that tide. It's not a detail; it's a significant factor there because as that level rises along those coastal areas, it just turbo-charges everything especially with some wind.