US, Canada dig out after snowstorm; death toll 15

Providence (Rhode Island), Feb 14 (AP) More than 220,000 homes and businesses remain remained without power on Sunday as the US Northeast and Canada dug out from a blizzard that dumped up to 3 feet (a meter) of snow on the most densely populated part of the region. The death toll was at 15. Some motorists had to be rescued after spending hours stuck in wet, heavy snow. Utilities in some hard-hit New England states predicted that the storm could leave some customers in the dark at least until Tuesday. About 650,000 lost power in eight states at the height of the storm. "We've never seen anything like this," said county official Steven Bellone of New York's Long Island, where hundreds of drivers had been caught on highways by Friday's fast-moving storm. Local police said Sunday that all known abandoned cars were searched and no one needing medical help was found. At least 11 deaths in the US and four in Canada were blamed on the snowstorm, including an 11-year-old boy in Boston who was overcome by carbon monoxide as he sat in a running car to keep warm while his father shoveled Saturday morning. Roads were impassable, and cars were entombed by snow drifts. Some people couldn't open the doors of their homes. "It's like lifting cement," said Michael Levesque, who was shoveling snow in Massachusetts. Blowing with hurricane-force winds, the storm hit hard along the heavily populated corridor between New York City and Maine. Most outages were in hard-hit Massachusetts, where some 180,000 customers remained without power on Sunday, officials said some of the outages might linger until Tuesday. New York City's three major airports LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark, New Jersey were up and running by late Saturday morning after shutting down the evening before. Boston's Logan Airport resumed operations late Saturday night. At New York's Fashion Week, women tottered on 4-inch heels through the snow to get to the tents to see designers' newest collections. (AP) RBL 02140514 NNNN