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Synagogues Shut as Jewish Community Readies for Nor'easter Blizzard Nemo

Some New England Shuls Close But New York Will Brave Snow

By JTA

(Page 3 of 3)

When told an estimated 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 cm) of snow was predicted overnight at Elk Mountain in Uniondale, Pennsylvania, pint-sized skier Sophia Chesner’s eyes grew wide.

“Whoa!” said the 8-year-old from Moorestown, New Jersey, who was on a ski vacation with her family. Her sister, Giuliana, 4, said no matter how good the skiing was, she had other priorities once the snow piled up.

“First thing I’m going to do is build a snowman and look for a Sasquatch footprint,” Guiliana Chesner said.

Life was not as rosy for those who planned to fly. In addition to Friday’s cancellations, more than 1,200 flights scheduled for Saturday were scratched, according to the website FlightAware.com.

The storm also posed a risk of flooding at high tide to areas still recovering from Superstorm Sandy last October.

“Many of the same communities that were inundated by Hurricane Sandy’s tidal surge just about 100 days ago are likely to see some moderate coastal flooding this evening,” said Bloomberg.

Brick Township in New Jersey had crews out building up sand dunes and berms ahead of a forecast storm surge, said Mayor Stephen Acropolis.

Travel became more difficult as the day progressed.

Amtrak suspended railroad service between New York, Boston and points north on Friday afternoon.

Organizers of the country’s championship sledding race, which had been scheduled to get underway in Camden, Maine, on Saturday, postponed the event by one day. Some 400 teams were registered for the race, which features costumed sledders on a 400-foot (121-meter) chute.

“As soon as the weather clears on Saturday and it is safe, the toboggan committee will be out at Tobogganville cleaning up the chute as quickly as they can,” said Holly Edwards, chairwoman of the U.S. National Toboggan Championships.

“It needs to be shoveled out by hand.”