Churches and airports close as snowstorm stretches to mid-Atlantic states

The East's worst storm of the season blew heavy snow along the Ohio Valley and into the mid-Atlantic states Sunday, shutting down two major airports and canceling church services. More than 3 feet of snow was possible in the mountains and other areas had floods and mudslides.

At least five deaths had been blamed on the weather since snow burst across the Plains on Friday and Saturday.

"This is looking like the largest storm this year, and it may be one of the top five in our recorded history," said Lora Rakowski of Maryland's Highway Administration. "You name a place, they've got snow -- and a lot of it."

The snow was part of a huge storm system that also produced thunderstorms in the South, including an early morning tornado that damaged a house in northern Florida.

In Tennessee, where more than 7 inches of rain fell earlier, a mudslide early Sunday destroyed an apartment building outside Knoxville, chasing out several dozen tenants. One man was hospitalized in serious condition, the Knox County sheriff's office said.

West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise declared a state of emergency as his state had 20 inches of snow in the north, floods that blocked roads in the south and ice elsewhere. Some 41,000 customers were without power. Williamson closed its flood wall as the Tug Fork River rose toward a crest of up to 3 feet above flood stage.

Snow fell Sunday from Missouri to New Jersey, and flakes fell at a rate of up to 4 inches an hour in parts of Maryland. Forecasts ranged from a foot of snow by late Monday in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to 20 inches in New Jersey and 2 feet in Maryland and northern Virginia.

The National Weather Service forecast up to 3 feet of snow in West Virginia's most mountainous counties.

Greg Hannigan of Hagerstown, Md., trekked through the snow to church Sunday and found he was the only one there. "When Catholics don't show up for church, you know it's a bad storm," he said.

College basketball games were postponed because of by the storm, including a showdown between defending national champion Maryland and Wake Forest, and horse races were canceled. In warmer Florida, the Daytona 500 was disrupted by heavy rain.

The Washington area's Baltimore-Washington International and Reagan National airports closed until further notice. Dulles International Airport had just one runway open during the afternoon. About three-quarters of flights at Philadelphia International Airport were canceled, spokesman Mark Pesce said.

Amtrak suspended service between Washington and Richmond, Va., said spokesman Dan Stessel.

Monuments and museums in Washington were closed, and President Bush's usual helicopter ride to the White House from Camp David was replaced by a 2Y-hour drive on snow-covered roads.

New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey declared a state of emergency, giving state police authority to close highways, but spokesman Micah Rasmussen said there were no immediate closures.

Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner also declared a state of emergency and mobilized National Guard troops to help clear roads. Nonessential travel was prohibited.

Hospitals in northern Virginia and Maryland asked for volunteers with four-wheel-drive vehicles to help employees get to and from work.

"I'm already getting calls from employees about tomorrow," said Patty Burch, clinical coordinator at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital in Fairfax, Va.

"It's very nerve-racking out there, because you can't even find the road," said Merrie Street, a spokeswoman for the Harford County, Md., emergency center.

More than a foot of snow was possible in New York City, which readied 1,300 plows and 148,000 tons of salt, said Kathy Dawkins, a spokeswoman for the city's Department of Sanitation.

"This is the 14th storm we've had in 12 weeks," Philadelphia Managing Director Philip Goldsmith said. "Our folks have worked hard, and they're going to be working hard in the next couple of days."

To the west, snow-covered, icy roads led to Sunday church service cancellations in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.

The weather-related deaths included two in Illinois, one in Nebraska, one in West Virginia, and one person killed in Iowa when an Amtrak train slammed into a car stuck on the tracks in drifting snow west of Danville.