Washington declared a state of emergency today due to a snowstorm in the eastern U.S. coast, the worst in the last six years, forced to cancel flights has caused numerous delays and left thousands without electricity.

The storm, which will continue throughout the day, has already left more than a foot of snow in some areas, according to the National Weather Service, and experts predict a foot in the area between Washington and New York.

In North Carolina, at least 60 thousand people were left without power last night due to the temporal.

The snow forced the U.S. president last night, Barack Obama, who returned from Copenhagen, where he attended the summit on climate change, to return by road, not by helicopter, as usual, from Andrews Air Force Base to the House White.

In anticipation of the storm, airlines canceled many flights, both domestic and transatlantic.

Delta airline canceled about 500 flights, while the company suspended flights on JetBlue flights to 150 airports in Washington and New York.

The Smithsonian Institution today announced the closure of all its museums, which represent some of the major tourist attractions of Washington, because of the snowstorm.

In addition to Washington, also the city of Philadelphia and the entire state of Virginia declared a state of emergency.

The storm system could generate winds of over fifty miles per hour, plus the snow may leave a zero visibility. The authorities have asked the public that as far as possible avoid the roads.

Throughout the area there have already hundreds of traffic accidents due to the temporal snow.

A big storm was moving toward the Atlantic Ocean during the last weekend before Christmas, threatening to paralyze much of the region as authorities warned of possible accumulation of two feet snow (20 inches) and the power outage.

People bought food and other supplies on Friday after the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning from the Carolinas to Rhode Island.

In Virginia, Gov. Tim Kaine declared a state of emergency before the storm, thereby alerting the National Guard and other agencies.Philadelphia authorities also declared states of emergency and canceled all activities during the weekend in the school district. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley urged drivers to stay home if possible.

Some buyers were trying to do their Christmas shopping before the arrival of snow.

“Many of them arrived this morning to shop before becoming stuck in the snow,” said Kayla Mahr of Bath and Body Shops in River Ridge Mall in Lynchburg, Virginia.

The FAA said there were delays of up to one hour in the departure of flights from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta on Friday due to rain and wind. United Airlines said it had already canceled over 140 flights for Saturday on the east coast before the storm.

Forecasts called for an accumulation of half a meter of snow (20 inches) for Saturday night in the Washington metropolitan area to West Virginia. They said it could be the worst snowstorm to cover the nation’s capital since February 2003 when snow fell 69 cm (27 inches) in the Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

It predicted 30 centimeters (one foot) of snow in parts of the states of Tennessee, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Southern Florida was hit by floods that hit homes and roads, which were sparked on Friday by the same storm system moves north.

The national service warned that snow, sometimes mixed with rain could fall on Saturday in much of the Atlantic just the weekend before Christmas.

The snow could reach a level of several centimeters (inches) in the area at risk and could reach 45 centimeters (18 inches) in parts of central and western Virginia. The movements will be difficult in the snow and the visibility is not good in many areas as storms come during the day, forecasters said.

The storm, which arose from the Gulf of Mexico, flooded south Florida on Thursday night.

The water was knee deep in the heart of Miami and over 30 centimeters in Hollywood, 32 kilometers (20 miles) north. In Hollywood a fire truck that had come to a call got stuck in the water.

Also issued a tornado warning lasted for 13 hours until the area between the Florida Keys and central Florida.