Gov. Martin O'Malley said Marylanders will wake up this morning to the most impassable streets since the 27-inch-deep snowstorm of 2003 - and, if they have power, will learn that perhaps 100,000 households do not.
In a late-afternoon news conference at the State Highway Administration operations center in Hanover, the governor said the overnight snowstorm was expected to be much heavier and wetter than the December snowstorm that dumped up to 22 inches of fluffy powder on the region. The heavy snow is likely to bring down many tree branches, cutting power to homes around the state, officials said.
"This one will be a much more stubborn snow," O'Malley said, urging residents to have patience with state and local officials after a snowfall that forecasters said would reach 20 to 30 inches.
Today "will be a day when everyone's digging out - and into Sunday for that matter," O'Malley said. Among those digging out will be workers at Baltimore- Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Most flights were canceled after midafternoon Friday, and the airport is expected to be closed until Sunday.
Officials urged motorists to stay off the roads today unless it is absolutely necessary to go out. They asked drivers who do venture out to take it slow, use special care at highway interchanges and give snowplows a wide berth.
"Never pass a snowplow or a snowplow train," said State Highway Administrator Neil J. Pedersen, using the term for a convoy working to clear several lanes.
Transportation officials, citing reports that traffic was moving reasonably well in light of the storm, were deliberating late into Friday night about possible road closures.
There were few serious incidents to impede traffic Friday. An exception was a collision in which a vehicle carrying two adults and three children hit the back of a salt truck on the shoulder of Interstate 95 at Route 462 in Harford County. Officials said an adult and a child were critically injured.
Earlier Friday, O'Malley declared a state of emergency that cleared the way for the Maryland National Guard to offer assistance - and the use of its Humvees - to local first-responders.
The declaration could clear the way for Maryland to receive federal aid if it meets the threshold of 28 inches of snow. Such aid could help state and local governments cope with the budget-busting effects of the snowiest winter in recent memory - one that was expected to put the state well above the $60 million allocated for snow removal in the current budget year.
Most commuters avoided the worst of the storm by leaving work at midday - encouraged by liberal leave policies adopted by the state and federal governments and many companies. O'Malley said the biggest surge in traffic occurred between noon and 2 p.m., and most roads appeared to be lightly traveled by the time the snow intensified and visibility diminished in late afternoon.
Transit riders joined the early exodus as MARC trains and Maryland Transit Administration commuter buses left early Friday afternoon in an attempt to get commuters home before the storm hit in earnest. State Transportation Secretary Beverley K. Swaim-Staley said both MARC and the commuter buses performed well.
Lindsay Griswold of Hanover caught a 1:20 p.m. Penn Line train out of Washington rather than her usual 5:20 p.m. departure after her employer, a federal contractor, let workers go home early. She said the crush of riders as she passed through Union Station was the worst she had seen.
"Going through the gate was unbelievable. They just packed us in," she said as she waited for her husband to pick her up at the BWI station.
The MTA planned to run local buses as long as possible, but Swaim-Staley said it might discontinue operations sooner than during December's major snowstorm, when some buses got stuck and had to be towed. She said some buses will run on primary routes only.
MTA officials also planned to run unoccupied "snow trains" through the night to keep subway and light rail tracks clear. But the Washington Metro was expected to suspend operations once the snow exceeded 6 to 8 inches.
Private bus companies also were affected by the storm. Megabus canceled service from White Marsh to New York from Friday afternoon through early Sunday. BoltBus halted service between New York and Baltimore as of Friday evening, and Greyhound canceled routes from Baltimore to New York as well as Ocean City.
BWI's biggest airline, Southwest, canceled more than 200 flights Friday and today, forcing ticket-holders to improvise. Southwest, like most other airlines, won't start flying again until Sunday.
Southwest called Rose Maldonado on Thursday to give her the news. She immediately got on the phone to rebook her 2:50 p.m. flight home to San Antonio. After 45 minutes on hold, she secured a 10 a.m. flight. To be sure, she got to the airport four hours early Friday.
"I got stuck here in December," she said. "I had to stay an extra weekend. ... I really didn't want that to happen again."
She was one of the lucky ones. Flights filled up quickly Friday, and those who came early to rebook or fly standby were largely disappointed. By 2 p.m., the Southwest concourse was nearly deserted except for those who work at the airport, and no passengers were being checked in. At 3 p.m., a Maryland Transportation Authority police officer was seen pedaling his bicycle through the terminal at nearly full speed - impossible on a normal afternoon.
One of the few passengers remaining was Josh Watts, 18. He had endured a grueling overnight bus trip from Dubois, Pa., to Pittsburgh to Washington to Baltimore before walking much of the way to BWI - only to find that no flights were going to Lynchburg, Va., where he hoped to join his wife for their 1-year-old son's birthday party. Now, Watts was stranded at the airport with little money and no idea where to stay until Sunday or Monday.
"This would have been the first time I rode a plane," he said.
Dan Smeglin, 23, of Marietta, Pa., said his 4:30 p.m. Southwest flight to Boston was still scheduled when he called the airline early Friday, but upon arriving at the airport about 2 p.m. he learned otherwise. He was left with the unappealing choice of driving home through the snow to Lancaster County or trying to find another flight.
Smeglin's story had a happy ending at AirTran, among the last airlines to halt departures. He got a seat on a 4:30 p.m. flight to Boston - one of the last flights to make it out, according to AirTran.
On the lower level, other thankful passengers were arriving. Eugene Proctor flew in Friday morning from Indianapolis to meet with relatives who were to drive him to North Carolina for a funeral. Initially, he'd been scheduled to take a later flight, but his wife had asked whether he could come a bit earlier. So he had rebooked - before learning that a storm was approaching.
"It worked out," he said. "Getting home will be another story. I need to get home before the [ Super Bowl] game Sunday. I've already decided to fly out of Raleigh-Durham instead of Baltimore."
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