CLICK HERE TO WATCH LIVE VIDEO COVERAGE OF THE STORM IN THE NORTHEAST
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NEW YORK -- A massive blizzard that dumped as much as 3 feet of snow in some parts of the Northeast is heading out to sea, as workers across New York and New England struggle to get airports, trains and highways back online.
The snowstorm, a product of two converging weather systems, knocked out power for more than 650,000 customers and prompted the U.S. Postal Service to suspend deliveries in seven states.
Mandatory evacuations were issued Saturday morning for Massachusetts coastal regions near Hull because of flooding concerns, and high winds whipped throughout the region. Authorities also advised residents to leave shoreline areas in Marshfield and Scituate.
Forecasters say the storm is expected to continue swirling across New England with gusts up to 40 mph in cities including Providence, Rhode Island, Hartford, Connecticut and Boston. Most of the heavy snow will taper off later in the afternoon, they said.
Three of New York's busiest airports resumed limited service Saturday morning. Logan International Airport in Boston and Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, remained closed.
"We're slowly coming back," said Susan Baer, Port Authority aviation director of New York and New Jersey. "We don't have every runway open yet and it's certainly a recovery process, so check with your airline."
Snowfall in Manhattan reached just under a foot, with heavier accumulations in Long Island, where 27 inches fell in Stony Brook.
But Connecticut saw the most accumulation with up to 38 inches in cities like Milford, while the Massachusetts cities of Worcester and Boston received 27 and 21 inches, respectively, with winds howling up to 75 mph.
It knocked out power to more than 400,000 addresses there, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all power outages, according to the state's power companies.
Electricity dropped out at a nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Massachusetts, said fire spokesman Ed Bradley, but backup generators sprang into action. It's not an emergency, he said. Plymouth is 90% in the dark.
Rhode Island may have seen the worst outages relative to its size, with more than 180,000 customers losing power. At 1 million residents, it has only one-sixth of Massachusetts' population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Gov. Lincoln Chafee ordered all non-emergency vehicles off the streets in an effort to allow snow plows to clear snow-bound roadways.
Snow covers the area from eastern Pennsylvania to Maine, the National Weather Service said. It has turned most everything in sight white. Overnight lows in most of the Northeast were under 20 degrees and likely won't get above freezing Saturday.
Governors of at least six states have declared states of emergency.
At its height, the storm heaped snow on Connecticut at a frenzied rate of 4 to 5 inches an hour.
iReporter Scott Green posted a photo of his deck in Cromwell covered waist-high with snow.
But the nor'easter showed some mercy.
Instead of carrying its destructive power further inland the way Superstorm Sandy did in early November, the nor'easter has begun taking its fury off shore, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said. But the system continues to sling snow back toward land as it heads out over the Atlantic.
By mid-morning Saturday, the precipitation will have slowed to a flurry, Myers said. The worst of the snow should cease before sunup, but winds will continue to push up dangerous drifts.
The nation's attention will likely then shift to the plains and mountain states, where blizzards and heavy snows are expected to last into Monday over a region larger than the Northeast but far less populous.
Travel comes to a halt
Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island ahead of the storm ordered motorists to stay off the streets under threat of imprisonment and fines -- up to a year in jail and $500 in Rhode Island.
Connecticut officially closed all roads Saturday morning, said governor's office spokesman Andrew Doba.
Emergency and snow clearing vehicles are the only exceptions. Massachusetts' travel ban will last until at least 4 p.m. Saturday and will not be over until the state's governor lifts it, according to emergency management spokesman Peter Judge.
Still, the only known loss of life from the storm occurred in a vehicle accident in New York. An 18-year-old woman lost control of her car in the falling snow and struck a 74-year-old man walking near the side of the road, police in Poughkeepsie said. He died in hospital from his injuries.
Hundreds of cars were stranded on the Long Island Expressway after motorists got stuck driving in the snow. They outnumbered the tow trucks and crews deployed in the area for the storm, according to the Suffolk County police.
Rescuers have recovered many, taking them to warm places, but they still have their work cut out, police said.
Rail transportation has come to a virtual halt, with commuter trains running on a patchwork schedule.
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