A howling storm across the US Northeast left the New York-to-Boston corridor shrouded in up to 3 feet of snow today, stranding drivers on highways overnight and piling up drifts so high that some homeowners couldn't open their doors. More than 650,000 homes and businesses were left without electricity. Airlines canceled more than 5,300 flights through today. The three major airports serving New York City slowly reopened, but Boston's Logan Airport was not expected to resume operations until late tonight. Flights were expected to be back on close to normal schedules tomorrow.
At least nine deaths were blamed on the storm, including three in Canada. The Boston fire department said an 11-year-old boy died of carbon monoxide poisoning today after being overcome as he sat in a running car to keep warm while his father was shoveling snow. The car exhaust pipe was covered by a snow bank, causing the fumes to collect in the vehicle. A little more than 11 inches fell in New York, but the city was "in great shape" and "dodged a bullet," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut closed roads to all but essential traffic. Some of the worst of the storm appeared to hit Connecticut, where even emergency responders found themselves stuck on highways all night. Click for more. (More blizzard stories.)