Huge northeast US snowstorm forces millions home; disrupts schools, flights

New York and other cities begin recovery after massive storm, but more snow may soon hit the already paralysed region.

A massive snowstorm has pummelled the northeast United States, with residents, municipal workers, and a powerful railroad snow-clearing machine nicknamed “Darth Vader” working tirelessly to excavate the region.

The storm – record-breaking in some areas – forced millions of people to stay home, shut schools and caused the cancellation of thousands of flights on Monday.

The weather event, which meteorologists described as the most powerful in a decade, left more than 24 inches (61cm) of snow in parts of the northeast US. By Tuesday, authorities began reopening roads, restoring mass transit in certain cities, and reinstating power to portions of the hundreds of thousands of residents who had lost electricity across the states of Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware and Rhode Island.

In New York, where classes were cancelled on Monday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that schools would resume in-person instruction on Tuesday – a decision that led to concerns about feasibility, given the snow-clogged pavements.

More than 2,000 flights to and from the US were cancelled on Tuesday, according to FlightAware, with the majority of disruptions occurring at airports in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.