Fed. government closed due to storm

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Federal offices in the Washington area will be closed to start the week due to the blizzard, and forecasters said another storm could strike the area this week.

The Office of Personnel Management posted a noticed on its Web site notifying employees that offices in the Washington area will be closed Monday and non-emergency workers, including those on pre-approved sick leave, will be excused for their absence for the day.

OPM Director John Berry made the decision following a conference call with local and state officials Sunday. The officials said it would not be safe for workers to commute Monday morning, The Washington Post reported.

The federal government decision will also result in a day off for many in the private sector, which typically follows the federal government's lead on such matters, the newspaper said. The decision to shut down for the day will cost taxpayers about $100 million in productivity losses, the report said.

Air traffic picked up Sunday as Washington dug its way out of a massive blizzard but thousands in the Eastern U.S. remained without power, authorities said.

Three deaths in the Pittsburgh area were being investigated as storm-related, as electric utility officials said more than 300,000 people along the Eastern seaboard were without power due to downed power lines.

Major airports throughout the region began to reschedule flights Sunday. Few passengers were reported stranded because so few flights landed Saturday, The New York Times reported.

The Allegheny County, Pa., Medical Examiner's office said a man and his daughter were found dead Sunday, apparently due to carbon monoxide poisoning from the use of a generator during an electrical outage in McKeesport, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. The newspaper said a man was found dead in his Pittsburgh home Saturday night shortly after he had been seen shoveling a sidewalk at his sister's nearby home.

Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania declared states of emergency and officials said they would open shelters for some of the hundreds of thousands of people whose power was knocked out.

Allegheny Power, which supplies electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia, issued a statement to CNN saying: "Since the heavy, wet snow is still bringing trees down, we are still seeing new outages occur. Damage assessment is ongoing, but overall estimated times for the restoration of service have not been determined."

The National Weather service said about 25.5 inches of snow fell at American University in Washington during a two-day span, close to the city's record of 28 inches, while in Philadelphia, a reported 28.5 inches had fallen by Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, forecasters said millions of U.S. residents would feel the effects of a new winter storm crossing the nation this week, which has the potential for significant snow, ice, flooding rain and strong storms.

Accuweather.com said it's the same storm that caused flooding and triggered mudslides in Southern California this weekend. They warned widespread travel disruptions were likely as it spreads eastward, with the same mid-Atlantic region buried by the "Blizzard of 2010" perhaps hit by snow again.