A powerful winter storm brought significant snowfall, hurricane-force wind gusts and coastal flooding to the US Northeast and parts of eastern Canada on Friday and Saturday. At least six storm-related fatalities have been recorded. The ‘Nor’easter’ prompted states of emergency to be declared in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire as the governors of Connecticut and Massachusetts also imposed statewide travel bans.

According to Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting report, the storm’s impact was felt by more than 40 million people from New Jersey to Maine. As at Saturday afternoon, there were at least 664,000 power outages (including 405,000 in Massachusetts, 191,000 in Rhode Island, 38,000 in Connecticut, 12,000 in Maine, and 10,000 in New York’s Long Island) as heavy, wet snow snapped power lines and tree branches.

Transportation across the US was heavily impacted by the Nor’easter’s effects, with more than 5,000 flights cancelled on Friday and Saturday. At the storm’s peak, all three of New York’s airports were closed in addition to Boston’s Logan International Airport, Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport and Rhode Island’s TF Green Airport. Rail service throughout the Northeast, including Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor train line, was suspended due to high winds and accumulating snows. Public transit was widely shut down as well due to state government officials mandating residents to stay indoors.

The Nor’easter’s broad impacts were also felt in Canada. Officials in Toronto reported that at least three people were killed in 350 separate traffic accidents throughout southern Ontario due to snowfall. A large numbers of flights were cancelled at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, most of which had US destinations. In the Canadian Maritimes, Environment Canada noted that snow accumulations in excess of 50 centimeters (20 inches) were possible across portions of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

In terms of a financial impact, it remains far too early at this time to provide an estimate on losses. Most affected US states are just beginning to assess the hardest-hit areas as the system begins to move away from the coastline.

However, once assessments are made, Impact Forecasting predicts that insured losses from the Nor’easter could exceed US winter weather losses seen during the entire year in 2012 (U$D60 million). 2012 marked a dramatic decrease in winter weather-related insured losses from 2011 (US$2.6 billion) and 2010 (US$1.2 billion).

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