Millions of people across the northeastern United States dug their way out of deep snow today and thousands were stranded at airports after one of the worst winter storms in the region's history.
Government offices were closed in the US capital Washington DC, schools and some businesses closed, but others struggled to reach work on slushy highways and delayed railroads, or just stayed home.
The ripples of the airport chaos caused by the blizzard were felt all over the United States and abroad.
Yesterday American Airlines canceled one-quarter of its schedule, 627 flights, and United Airlines canceled about 380 flights. American and United are the largest and second largest airlines in the world respectively.
By late this morning, airports in New York, Newark, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington and Baltimore, Maryland, began opening for flights - but some using only one runway, airport officials said.
At least 28 people died across the region of causes related to the snow storm, from heart attacks while shoveling snow to roofs collapsing under the weight of snow.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged residents to take it easy and said the blizzard was minor compared to the crisis the city faced on September 11th, 2001.
Bloomberg said every major street in the five boroughs that make up the nation's most populous city of eight million should be plowed at least once by the end of Tuesday.
The National Weather Service said record snowfalls were set for Boston at 27.5 inches and Baltimore at 27 inches in the storm that began in the mid-Atlantic states on Sunday and powered its way up the northeast on Monday, the Presidents Day holiday when businesses and schools were already closed.