Deadly Winter Storm Hits Northeast

(AP) — A deadly winter storm brought snow and sleet to the Northeast on Thursday, while crews in the Plains and Midwest worked to restore power to hundreds of thousands of people left in the dark in its ice-coated wake.

Some parts of the Northeast could receive up to a foot of snow, forecasters said. Schools in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced closures, in some cases before flakes even began to fall.

Dozens of traffic accidents were reported on Connecticut roads.

“We’re having, I won’t say a crisis, but we have an abundance of crashes literally all across the state on main and secondary roads,” said Lt. J. Paul Vance. “It really is pretty dangerous, so we would strongly advise people to stay off the roads.”

Some businesses sent their workers home early, leading to a steady stream of customers at Sebby Randazzo’s liquor store in Columbia.

“Before the snow starts, and for the first hour or so, people want to load up for their snow parties,” Randazzo said. “They want to gather around the fire with a glass of wine, or have a beer with their buddies, or maybe after they shovel snow for a while they come in and have a beverage.”

Molly Bergstrom, of Canastota, N.Y., stuffed grocery bags in the back of her car and said she had gone shopping early to beat the worst of the weather.