By Agencies

Share Link:

Severe storms are battering the eastern coast of North America, disrupting air and rail travel, cutting electricity to thousands, and leading to dozens of deaths.

Heavy snow fell on the eastern United States on Saturday, killing at least two people and paralysing much of the area surrounding the nation's capital.

Forecasters were expecting around 60cm of snow and near-blizzard conditions from Virginia to southern New Jersey.

For Washington DC, the forecast would make it the worst storm to hit in 88 years.

The same storm system hit Mexico earlier in the week, killing at least 29 people as heavy rains forced rivers to burst their banks and flood roads.

Parts of the country have received eight times more rain in the past four days than they normally get in a month.

Storm system

Local media reports in the US said the severe weather led to the deaths of a father and son in Virginia, who were hit by a tractor-trailer while stopped on the side of a road.

Electricity has been cut to more than 120,000 homes and many offices in Washington DC, as power lines were knocked out.

All flights for Saturday, meanwhile, have been cancelled at the area's three main airports, and several surrounding states have declared a state of emergency.

Bus services in the capital were shut, as well as around 40 above-ground railway stations.

Unseasonably cold temperatures were expected in the storm's wake next week in the northeast of the country.