The worst blizzard to strike the US in seven years resulted in cancellations and delays to almost every flight out of Bermuda International Airport yesterday.

“We've had a number of flight cancellations,” said Airport general manager Jim Howes. “It's all due to the heavy snowstorm and blizzard that has struck the north-eastern US.”

Most major airports between Washington and New York were closed yesterday when the powerful winter blizzard barrelled in, stranding thousands of travellers and burying the eastern US in as much as four feet of snow.

More than 2,100 flights from US airports were cancelled and as many as 20 deaths were reported throughout the US as a result of the storm, which also caused floodings, rock and mud slides, and thousands to go without electricity.

At Bermuda International Airport, the US Airways flight from Bermuda to Philadelphia was cancelled yesterday. A US Airways flight that had arrived in Bermuda from Philadelphia on Sunday was also grounded at the airport overnight, and was still there late yesterday afternoon after every flight to and from Philadelphia was cancelled.

The American Airlines 7.30 a.m. flight to JFK Airport in New York was still grounded in Bermuda at five p.m. yesterday. Almost all domestic flights out of Kennedy airport were also cancelled. LaGuardia Airport was also closed yesterday, and Continental cancelled the Bermuda flight to Newark, New Jersey. Both JFK Airport and Newark International Airport were open last night but experiencing heavy delays.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark, Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports, offered cots and blankets to the stranded passengers.

New York Mayor and sometime Bermuda resident Michael Bloomberg estimated yesterday the storm had cost his city around $20 million.

Delta cancelled the Bermuda flight to Boston, where Logan Airport was open although more than half the flights were cancelled. The Air Canada flight to Toronto departed on schedule.

A cold front is scheduled to bring strong winds and wet spells throughout Bermuda today. New York and Newark are forecast to be mostly cloudy, Boston to have rain and snow, and Philadelphia to be party cloudy. It is possible that some US airports might not re-open until tomorrow.

Weather: Page 22

US blanketed: Page 19