Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. NYC Travel Ban as Snow Storm Hits City by VOA News New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has banned non-emergency travel in New York City as a massive winter storm dumps more snow on the east coast of the United States, creating what forecasters say could be "life-threatening blizzard conditions." Speaking hours before the travel ban went into effect, de Blasio urged business to close. "It's time for businesses to shut down and get their employees home right away," the mayor said. He added that people who do not get off the roads could face arrest. Storm Jonas seriously impacted the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions Saturday with nearly 60 centimeters of snow blanketing the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. ''Thousands stranded Up to 85 million people are in the storm's path and hundreds of thousand are without power while thousands more are stranded after the storm paralyzed street, rail and airline traffic along the U.S. East Coast. With snow forecast to continue until the early hours of Sunday, weather services have predicted storm could bring snowfall to rival the biggest blizzards on record. Residents have been warned to stay indoors as winds intensify to above 80 kilometers per hour, creating near whiteout conditions and making travel even more hazardous. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake urged residents to stay indoors, saying roads were very dangerous. She told CNN that the steady snow plus heavy winds are a problem. Flooding on Jersey shore High tides washed through the streets of Jersey Shore towns, mixing with snow and pooling in driveways Saturday, though a bigger concern is a snow fall at a rate of more than seven centimeters an hour in some places and very low visibility, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said. '' Some southern areas of the state have seen significant flooding. Christie said that 90,000 power outages have been reported, but there are shelters for people affected. He urged residents to say inside. Washington relatively spared ''The worst appeared to be over for Washington, although moderate snow was expected to keep falling until late Saturday, with accumulations of 58 centimeters recorded in Poolesville, Maryland, north of the nation's capital. '' ''States of emergency At least nine people have already died from Georgia to New England with six reported dead in car crashes due to icy roads in North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. States of emergency have been declared in at least 10 states. In Kentucky, authorities have opened emergency shelters along a major interstate highway, where motorists have been stranded for at least 10 hours. WATCH: Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser ''Jonas could be one of Washington's top 10 worst storms in recorded history, according to forecasters. Ahead of the storm, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency and closed local schools Friday. "This has life-and-death implications, and all the residents of the District of Columbia should treat it that way," said Bowser. Federal government offices in the city shut down. Authorities even took the rare step of closing the entire DC Metro public transit system. WATCH: Snow quickly piles up in Washington '''''' __________________________________________________________________ [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/us-east-coast-prepares-for-major-snow -storm/3157372.html References 1. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-east-coast-prepares-for-major-snow-storm/3157372.html