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Letter to the Editor: Coal industry requires more reforms

PHILADELPHIA &#8212; The powerful winter storm that is hammering the Northeast has buried the Philadelphia area in snow and caused flooding at the Shore on a scale not seen since Hurricane Sandy.And it&#8217;s not over yet.From 20 inches to 2 feet had fallen by midafternoon in parts of Chester and Montgomery County, and band of profoundly heavy snow rippled through parts of the region latein the day.With 17.7 inches measured officially as of 1 p.m. at Philadelphia International Airportalready the ninth-biggest snowstorm in 132 years of recordkeeping &#8212; several more inches of snow were expected, whipped by high winds that could cause additional roadblocking drifts and blizzard conditions. The 14.7 that had fallen after midnight Saturday was a record for a Jan. 23.The snow finally should end during the early morning hours, forecasters said.Any storm-total accumulation above 23.2 inches would put this storm in the top three, and up to 30 inches could accumulate in western Chester County.Even before the arrival of any blizzard conditions, the storm was having an impact, particularly at the Shore, where streets were turned into icy canals.The morning high tide at Cape May was recorded at 9.38 feet above normal, an inch more than the record set during Sandy in 2012.Avalon Business Manager Scott Wahl said the flooding in his beach town was &#8220;comparable&#8221; to Sandy.Two more high tides pose additional threats to the Shore.It should be kept in mind that flooding in Cape May County was not on the scale of that seen in Ocean County and points north.Besides the street flooding, thousands of customers were without power at the Shore.Closer to the city, high winds set back plowing efforts by blowing snow back onto roadways.A number of vehicles, including team buses, are stuck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the central part of the state and rescue efforts are underway involving Turnpike Authority crews, police, firefighters and the National Guard.&#8220;Make some soup, and don&#8217;t go out,&#8221; Mayor Kenney said at a morning briefing, echoing every elected official called on Saturday morning to comment about the storm.It should be mostly sunny and above freezing Sunday during the height of the snow removal operations.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>The Philadelphia Inquirer</bylineMeta></div>

Storm hammers Philadelphia, Jersey shore