By Faye Vergara
Although Utah residents may not be getting the snow they want, snowstorms in the northeastern part of United States overwhelmed thousands of residents, trapping them in their homes and at airports over Presidents Day weekend.
Former BYU students Randal Banagas and Beckett Tracy had to dig their cars out of the snow-covered parking lots in their apartment complex in Crystal City, Va. on Sunday and Monday.
'This is probably the most snow I''ve ever been in at once,' said Beckett Tracy, a BYU graduate working in the Washington D.C. area.
'The snow plow literally covered my car with a few feet of snow; it took me a couple of hours with a snow-shovel to free my vehicle,' Tracy said. 'I couldn''t even see where my car was under all the snow. I had to poke around inside the snowdrift with a broom handle to find my car hidden before I could safely start to dig.'
Temperatures dropped down to 15 degrees (and 1 degree with wind-chill), by Sunday night.
The D.C. area received about 24 inches of snow, while 49 inches of snow were reported in certain remote areas of Maryland.
The amount of snow that fell caused the federal government, schools, shops and other public facilities to close.
'I can''t go outside because it''s too cold and most other businesses are closed as well,' said Randal Banagas, a BYU graduate working as a high school teacher in the Washington D.C. area. 'We even had church canceled because the roads were too dangerous to drive on. It''s a good thing we have a minimart and a gym inside our apartment complex.'
Some schools are still not allowing students to go back until the roads clear up enough for the students to be able to walk on the sidewalks.
'When I learned that school was going to be cancelled for the third day in a row, I was kind of surprised,' Banagas said. 'Since I''m from California, this whole school-closed-because-of-snow-thing is all kind of new to me. That would mean one more day inside my apartment.'
Banagas and his roommates, along with other residents, were confined to their homes from Sunday to Tuesday.
On Monday, American Airlines canceled 627 flights, which is one-quarter of its schedule, and United Airlines canceled about 380 flights.
People waited days to get on flights. The Washington D.C. Dulles airport didn''t open for flights until Tuesday morning, and only one runway was open. Other airports were completely closed.
With the cancellation of flights and closure of businesses, schools and other facilities, people were warned to stay indoors and out of the streets.
'To pass time, me and some friends just stayed inside and watched videos all day long,' Banagas said. 'After a while, we started going crazy from being inside for so long.'
The storm ranked within the top five heaviest snowfalls recorded.
The number one ranking snowfall in the Washington D.C. area was in 1922 in which 27 inches of snow fell.
The most recent record for heavy snowfall in Washington D.C. was in the 1996 storm in which 17 inches of snow fell.
'It''s amazing how much snow we got; we still haven''t been able to go to work or school,' Banagas said. 'We''ve been out of school for four days now; it''ll be nice to know when we can get back to work,' Banagas said.
In contrast to Washington D.C. and Maryland students, Provo residents report that their students have not had to experience the same circumstances.
'My kids have never had to miss school here in the Provo school district,' said Suzette Anderson, a local parent. 'Here in Utah, we haven''t had much snow in the past five years.'
Students, businesses, the federal government and airports were not the only victims of the snowstorm.
Thirty-seven people were killed because of snowstorm related causes, such as heart attacks while shoveling snow, collapsing roofs and carbon monoxide poisoning in snow-covered cars.
In the 1996 northeastern states snowstorm, at least 21 people were killed from the same causes.
Residents in Crystal city, Va. said the sirens could be heard throughout neighborhoods Monday and Tuesday.
Members of the city councils in different cities affected by the snow said millions of dollars are needed to clear streets and highways.
With the amount of snow left from the storm, some people are worried the snow may cause flooding, because of rising temperatures. This weeks forecast calls for 40 to 50 degree weather.