DHAKA: An emergency has been declared in several US states as a storm bringing hurricane-force winds and 90cm (36ins) of snow barrels down on the north-east.

Boston, New York and Philadelphia began shutting down Monday evening (local time) as the flurries began, with the worst ahead.

Non-emergency vehicles have been banned on New York City’s 6,000 miles of roads after 23:00 local time.

“Recognise this as an emergency, this is not business as usual,” said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio Monday night.

It may not look bad yet, he said, but it will be soon. “This is literally the calm before the storm. It’s about to start in earnest,” de Blasio added.

He further said “And when it does, it’s going to come in very fast and very hard, and people have to be very, very careful. People have to stay off the streets and stay off the sidewalks.”

New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts have declared states of emergency and 50 million people are expected to wake up to a foot of snow on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, 6,500 flights in and out of airports along the East Coast cancelled, schools and businesses stopped early on Monday.

New York’s subway and bus services stop at 23:00 local time    wind gusts of 75 mph or more are forecast for coastal areas of Massachusetts.

Boston’s Logan Airport said there would be no flights after 19:00 local time.
Glenn Field of the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts, told the BBC on Monday afternoon that the storm will be worse than previously thought.

Hurricane-force winds of up to 80 mph (129km/h) will batter Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, he said.

BDST: 1029 HRS, JAN 27, 2015