A woman takes photos with her cell phone as heavy snow falls on March 7, 2018 at Union Square in New York. Hundreds of flights were cancelled Wednesday morning to and from New York airports as the region braced itself for heavy snowfall. Photo: AFP
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https://scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2136214/winter-storm-cancels-hundreds-flights-new-york-heavy United States & Canada
Winter storm cancels hundreds of flights in New York
More than 1500 flights between the three New York serving airports had been cancelled by morning
More than 1500 flights between the three New York serving airports had been cancelled by morning
Hundreds of flights were cancelled Wednesday to and from New York airports as the region was hit by heavy snow in a late season storm.
Some 470 flights – nearly 37 per cent of the total scheduled – arriving and departing from John F Kennedy International Airport had already been cancelled by 9.00am (10pm Hong Kong time), along with 550, or 44 per cent, of flights from New Jersey’s Newark airport and 485, or 42 per cent, from La Guardia, which operates primarily domestic flights, according to the FlightAware flight tracking site.
The Port Authority agency that oversees the three airports – which has come under sharp criticism for the chaos that followed early January’s snowstorm – said each airport had stocked folding beds, blankets, diapers and baby milk formula as a precautionary measure.
New York expected between 15 to 25 centimetres (six and 10 inches) of snowfall Wednesday, with up to 20 inches predicted in more rural areas of New York state, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The National Weather Service warned of “heavy wet snow, coastal flooding and gusty winds” in the region.
A person walks through the snow during a storm in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on March 7, 2018. Photo: Reuters
New York public schools as well as city public services and courts were open as usual.
The last storm to sweep through the north-eastern United States last week left at least five people dead, mostly due to trees felled by violent winds and heavy rains.