Philadelphia January 2016 blizzard updates

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The Philadelphia region got to work Sunday, digging itself out of the fourth-largest snowstorm in city history.

The powerful winter storm battered the area from Friday evening into early Sunday morning, dumping more than 20 inches of snow in many places. At Philadelphia International Airport, the official measurement was 22.4 inches.

The region was slowly getting moving again Sunday, clearing the roads, rail lines and cars buried by snow. At the Shore, communities were recovering from flooding that turned streets into icy canals. Both inland and near the coast, officials and residents were bracing for extended snow-removal efforts.

"This will be a long-term plowing and cleaning operation," Mayor Jim Kenney said at a briefing Sunday morning.

Still, Kenney and other officials, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, said they were hopeful Monday would be the start of a relatively normal work week.

Officials urged citizens to help emergency and road crews by digging out abandoned vehicles but otherwise staying out of the way.

"Exercise restraint," Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said. "If you can, stay home. It really helps the crews do their work."

Here are the latest updates as snow and flooding clean-up operations kicked into high gear Sunday.

Roads

Crews are continuing plowing and salting operations on highways and in the city.

Speed restrictions are in place on some highways and on Delaware River bridges.

Many secondary highways and residential streets are icy, uncleared, blocked by disabled vehicles or otherwise impassable.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is now open.

In the city, one hazard is that pedestrians are resorting to plowed streets where sidewalks have not been cleared.

Icy streets and sidewalks are possible for the Monday morning commute, as snow may melt during the day but refreeze overnight.

Utilities

Atlantic City Electric reports about 8,000 customers are without power, mostly along the Shore.

PECO reports about 140 customers are without power.

Jersey Central Power and Light reports about 1,600 power outages.

PSE&G said about 140 customers lack power.

Mass Transit

SEPTA: Service is running on the Broad Street and Market-Frankford subway lines, most trolley lines and some bus routes. The Norristown High Speed Line is expected to partially resume running late Sunday. Regional Rail will largely remain suspended into Monday, though the Airport Line is running hourly Sunday. www.septa.org

PATCO: PATCO has posted a special snow schedule for the weekend and Monday. www.ridepatco.org.

NJ Transit: Some service, including part of the River Line, started to resume at 11 a.m. www.njtransit.com

Amtrak: Amtrak is operating on a modified schedule, but check for cancellations. www.amtrak.com

Airlines

Hundreds of flights into and out of Philadelphia International Airport are delayed or canceled, though service was resuming after a total suspension on Saturday.

Government Actions

States of emergencies are in effect in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Snow emergencies are in effect in Philadelphia and surrounding municipalities, banning parking on snow emergency routes. Five-dollar a day parking is available at Philadelphia Parking Authority garages.

Code Blue alerts are in effect region wide to provide shelter to the homeless or those without heat.

There will be no trash and recycling collection on Monday in Philadelphia. Residents whose collection day is Monday should hold trash until Monday, Feb. 1.

There will be no rear driveway trash collection in Philadelphia this week. All trash and recyclables should be set curbside.

Shore

Extensive clean-up efforts will be required after flooding that was worse in some places than during Sandy in 2012. Record tides were reported at Cape May Harbor and Stone Harbor.

Schools

All Philadelphia School District schools, early childhood centers and offices will be closed Monday, spokesman Fernando Gallard said.

Officials made the call Sunday afternoon after consulting with city officials.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced all Catholic high schools and elementary schools in the city would also be closed because of "ongoing travel difficulties."

Though it's the first inclement-weather day of the term for Philadelphia students, the day must be made up.

Because of a higher-than-usual number of days off earlier in the year due to the Pope's September visit, there were no snow days built into the calendar.

An extra day will be tacked onto the school calendar: students' final day is now June 23, not June 22 as initially ordered by the School Reform Commission.

A spokesman for the archdiocese said suburban schools usually follow the decisions of their corresponding local public school districts and announce their decisions independently.

Miscellaneous

Most malls in the area were closed Saturday but are reopening Sunday.

Some churches have canceled services.

Some attractions are reopening Sunday, while others remain closed through the weekend. Check before visiting.

Some library systems, including those in Philadelphia and Camden, are closed.

Sporting events that had been postponed but are scheduled to be made up today include the Sixers' game against the Celtics and Temple, Villanova and LaSalle basketball games.