A winter storm swept the east coast of the United States today, Saturday, the most severe in 4 years, and this led to the declaration of a state of emergency in 5 states.

The governors of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Rhode Island and Virginia declared a state of emergency, and called on residents to stay away from the roads for their own safety, and also warned of the possibility of power outages.

"The combination of heavy snow and strong winds will lead to dangerous snowstorms across areas of the Mid-Atlantic and New England coasts," the Meteorological Authority said, in a notice.

The authority also issued warnings of the possibility of flooding in coastal areas with a population of about 70 million people.

The storm, known as Norrester, forced airlines to cancel nearly 6,000 flights over the weekend, and Amtrak Railroads canceled passenger services in much of the region.

A main street closed by snow in Boston (French)

In New York, a layer of snow 10 centimeters thick covered the streets, and the city's mayor, Eric Adams, urged residents to stay at home.

"Return to your homes safely tonight and stay home over the weekend, and avoid non-essential travel," New York Governor Cathy Hoshol said in a statement.

"It looks like this storm is going to be record-breaking," Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said in a television interview. "We're not only expecting a lot of snow, but it's going to fall very quickly in the most intense hours."

Meteorologists expected the storm to cover the Boston area with more than 60 centimeters of snow, while 45 centimeters of snow was recorded in some coastal areas in New Jersey.

The storm is expected to extend from Carolina to Maine, bringing hurricane-force winds to coastal parts.

Harvey Cedars Police released pictures showing the difficulty of seeing in the streets, and commented on Twitter, saying, "Thank you for staying off the roads, until these dangerous conditions are over."

6:30am conditions in Harvey Cedars.

Thank you for staying off the roads while the conditions are dangerous to travel in.

#lbi pic.twitter.com/ahxEqgh8vi

— Harvey Cedars Police Department 🇺🇸 (@HCPolice) January 29, 2022