AS another major snowstorm bore down on the north eastern United States last night, the mayor of Washington asked President Clinton to declare a state of emergency so that military personnel and equipment could help move snow banks from partially cleared streets.
New York and Maryland governors also asked the government to declare their states a disaster area because of the huge cost of snow clearing $71 million alone in Maryland.
Irritation mounted among commuters in Washington yesterday, the first day the federal government reopened, as they struggled with still choked residential roads, packed and intermittent metro trains, and huge traffic jams.
The city remains partially paralysed with thousands of cars still buried under deep snow a full five days after the "Blizzard of `96" moved up the eastern seaboard and dumped from 17 to 31 inches of snow on the capital. Only 25 per cent of residential streets had been made passable to traffic by yesterday morning.
The Mayor of Washington, Mr Marion Barry severely criticised in 1987 for relaxing in Florida during another epic snowfall defended the city's snowploughing efforts as Herculean" His aides said the problem was removing the head high snow banks lining the streets.
In the Washington Post, columnist Mary McGrory complained that her city district which had not voted for Mr Barry still looked like the Russian steppes in a rerun of for add Peace. The Democratic mayor, also criticised for neglecting streets around the Republican dominated Congress helped plough a street on Capitol Hill to show his impartiality.
Due to financial cutbacks the city's snow plough fleet 45 trucks is only a third the size it was 15 years ago.
The White House spokesman, Mr Mike McCurry, said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had directed the Army Corps of Engineers to provide equipment to get the snow off Washington streets. The agency said it would reimburse the cost of snow clearance in badly hit states.
Concern mounted among Washington residents yesterday about the danger of overburdened roofs, many already carrying the weight of long icicles, collapsing from further heavy snow.
The new storm, expected to last all day today would bring 6 to 12 inches of extra snow, meteorologists said. They also warned it would be heavier in texture than last time and mixed with sleet times because temperatures would be slightly higher.
This has the potential to be another major snow event. It could create a nightmare on top of the snow we already have," said a meteorologist, Dr Brian Korty.
The death toll from last weekend's blizzard was put at 80 throughout the north east 29 in Pennsylvania alone mainly from traffic accidents and heart attacks while shovelling snow.
New York City economists put the cost of the storm to the city at $1 billion. The Washington based, National Retail Federation estimated the financial toll at between $2 billion and $3 billion in lost sales, with Washington. New York and Philadelphia the hardest hit.
In Philadelphia, where a record 30 inches of snow fell, clean up crews dumped 2,000 tons of snow into the river Schuylkill, then had to use a wrecking ball to break up the resulting mountain of frozen snow blocking the river.
The Philadelphia Mayor, Mr Edward Rendell, said, "This was a natural disaster of huge proportions. If we get another six inches, God help us."
East coast airports faced chaos yesterday as people tried to travel before today's stone. Security officers were called to a United flight to Tokyo which took off late on Wednesday after spending six hours on a runway due to mechanical problems and congestion.