As of Tuesday morning, more than 277,000 customers had no electricity in the state of Virginia, while more than 26,000 people and businesses had no power in Maryland and outages in North Carolina stood at more than 29,000.
Icy conditions forced local authorities to close large portions of interstate highways in different parts of the region, including Interstate 95, a major freeway, south of the US capitol.
US Senator Tim Kaine was among the hundreds of drivers stuck on I-95 for hours. “I started my normal 2 hour drive to DC at 1pm yesterday. 19 hours later, I’m still not near the Capitol,” Kaine said via Twitter.
Police in Virginia cautioned drivers that downed trees and black ice were still halting traffic on interstates, primary and secondary roads across the state.
Maryland State Police responded to 220 crashes and 263 disabled or unattended vehicles. “There’s still concern for icy conditions today so please proceed with caution,” the police said on Twitter.
Meanwhile, two of three airports, serving the Washington area continued experiencing significant problems with flight arrivals and departures. More than 150 flights were cancelled or delayed at Reagan National Airport, while Baltimore-Washington International Airport reported over 130 cancellations or delays, flightarrival.com reported.