Blizzard2K16 Claims Lives, Hits Record Levels Of Snowfall

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While most of us are tucked inside our homes, no doubt having #NetflixAndChill sessions and enjoying the weekend, there’s chaos across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

With wind gusts and snow still aggressively clocking up to 55 mph, 33 million people are under blizzard warnings and 11 states—and Washington, D.C.—have declared a state of emergency: Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia.

Up to 40 inches of snow is expected in certain areas, 4,975 flights were canceled today according to Flight Aware, and hundreds of thousands of customers are without power in 13 states.

But the most tragic issue are the lives that have been lost and people who have gone missing due to the extreme weather– including two deaths in North Carolina traffic accidents.

As reported by CNN, eight people are dead nationwide as a result of the storm. In Washington, DC a nine-year-old boy was missing for hours, before being found at a friend’s home by the authorities. And over 900 people were stranded in traffic in Kentucky and Pennsylvania on long stretches of icy highways.

Being regarded as one of the worst storms in history, city officials across the affected states are warning residents to stay inside and bundle up.

“We see this as a major storm,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a press conference. “It has life and death implications and all of the residents of the District of Columbia should treat it that way.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio noted this could rank among the city’s top five snowfall accumulations in recorded history, saying, “This is bad, and it’s getting worse rapidly.”

There’s also sad news for sports fans as the NBA, NHL and NFC have postponed major games.

The snowfall is predicted to end sometime Saturday evening, if not the early hours of Sunday morning. But there’s no telling how long it will take to recuperate from the flooding and structural damage caused by the blizzard.

“Just be safe,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said at a news conference Thursday afternoon at the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency headquarters. “We all know we cannot control the weather, but we can all be prepared for whatever the weather brings us.”

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