
Boston experienced historic flooding on Thursday, as a 'bomb cyclone' winter storm hit the Northeast, causing travel chaos across the region, but officials have predicted that the aftermath may be deadlier than the storm.

While most people have kept their eyes on Winter Storm Grayson that has claimed the lives of 14 people across the Northeast, the National Weather Service has predicted 'life-threatening' cold overnight Friday and Saturday for much of the region.

In the next 24 hours, the Northeast will be sent into a deep freeze that could cause roads and streets to be covered with a sheet of snow and ice for days.

From Baltimore to Caribou, Maine efforts were underway to clear roadways of ice and snow as wind chill temperatures were to plunge during the day, reaching -40F (-40 C) in some parts after sundown, according to the National Weather Service.

Utility companies across the East worked to repair downed power lines early on Friday as about 21,000 customers remained without electricity, down from almost 80,000 the day before, and issued warnings that temperatures may become dangerously low.

'If the temperature in your home begins to fall, we recommend taking shelter elsewhere until service can be restored. You can find warming centers by contacting local authorities,' National Grid power company, which serves Massachusetts, said on Twitter.

The storm, packing winds gusts of more than 70 miles per hour (113 kph), dumped a foot or more of snow throughout the region, including Boston and parts New Jersey and Maine, where heavy snow continued to fall early on Friday.

Many East Coast communities ordered drivers to stay off the roads and closed schools on Friday. Schools in Boston and Baltimore canceled classes while Newark, New Jersey schools were opening two hours later than usual on Friday.

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Street crews in the US Northeast including Times Square, pictured above) raced through the night into Friday to clear snow-clogged streets after a powerful blizzard and restore power to homes ahead of a brutal cold spell that has killed more than a dozen people in the United States

Utility companies across the East worked to repair downed power lines early on Friday as about 21,000 customers remained without electricity, down from almost 80,000 the day before, and issued warnings that temperatures may become dangerously low. Pictured above, a woman crosses a street in upper Manhattan during a snowstorm on Thursday

A worker clears snow from a plaza in lower Manhattan in New York as a powerful winter storm buffeted the area with high winds and blowing snow. The massive storm swept from the Carolinas to Maine on Thursday

People struggle against wind and snow as they cross 125th street in upper Manhattan during a snowstorm in New York City on Thursday

The storm, packing winds gusts of more than 70 miles per hour (113 kph), dumped a foot or more of snow throughout the region, including Boston and parts New Jersey and Maine, where heavy snow continued to fall early on Friday. Pictured above, a woman walks her dog through New York during the snow storm

Despite the cold weather that closed schools and grounded planes in New York, tourists still took the trip to Brooklyn to snap photos with the Manhattan Bridge in Dumbo on Thursday

A man walks in the snow next to Central Park along 5th avenue in upper Manhattan during Storm Grayson in New York City on Thursday

A woman poses for photos with the 'Charging Bull' statue in Manhattan's Financial District during heavy snowfall. The storm forced thousands of flights to be canceled and New York City's two main airports halted flights because of whiteout conditions

A passerby stops to play with drifting snow that accumulated in the windows outside the Oculus at the World Trade Center's transportation hub in Lower Manhattan in New York

A woman using a cane makes her way across a street in upper Manhattan on Thursday as Storm Grayson hit the area

The storm (pictured hitting New York City) was powered by a rapid plunge in barometric pressure that some weather forecasters called a bombogenesis, or a 'bomb cyclone.' It brought high winds and swift, heavy snowfall

The wintry weather has been blamed for at least 14 deaths in the past few days, including three in North Carolina traffic accidents and three in Texas because of the cold. Pictured above, a man carries a baby across Broadway in upper Manhattan on Thursday

Nearly 500 members of the National Guard were activated along the East Coast to assist with emergency response, including 200 in New York state, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement. Pictured above, a woman walks through the storm in New York city

A man shovels snow as traffic makes it's way east on 81st street in New York on Thursday. The snow could usher in record-breaking cold temperatures over the weekend

For New York, streets will be nearly impossible to thaw out since temperatures are expected to feel like a bone-numbing minus 20 degrees on Friday and Saturday night.

'When it's this cold, the salt doesn't have as much effect,' Mayor de Blasio said at a press conference Thursday.

'Despite the great work of Sanitation, it's going to be a while before you're going to see the blacktop in some parts of the city,' he added.

The arctic blast could make temperatures feel as low as minus 15 degrees from Philly to Beantown on Friday and make residents of states like Maryland and Virginia shiver from temps ranging from 10 degrees to 15 degrees.

'This is chilly, chilly stuff,' Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, said on Thursday.

Hurley said some of the most painfully cold weather is still to come.

In northern New England, temperatures will be below zero this weekend. The high in Burlington, Vermont, on Saturday may only be minus 5 degrees, he said.

With the wind chill, it could feel as cold as 30 degrees below in those areas, a dangerous level that could potentially lead to frostbite exposure, warned Carl Erickson, an AccuWeather meteorologist based in State College, Pennsylvania.

Boston experienced historic flooding on Thursday, after a 'bomb cyclone' winter storm hit the Northeast, causing travel chaos across the region, but officials have predicted that the aftermath may be deadlier than the storm

While most people have kept their eyes on Winter Storm Grayson, the National Weather Service has predicted 'life-threatening' cold overnight Friday and Saturday for much of the Northeast. Above, a car in floodwaters in Boston on Thursday

In the next 24 hours, the Northeast will be sent into a deep freeze that could cause roads and streets to be covered with a sheet of snow and ice for days. Above, more cars in floodwaters in Boston on Thursday

A woman watches as ocean waves overtop the seawall during a winter snow storm in the Boston suburb of Lynn, Massachusetts on Thursday

Firefighter Justin Plaza pulls a rescued motorist to dry land, in Boston, Massachusetts on Thursday

The floodwaters were thigh-deep on this stretch of road in Boston on Thursday

The South won't be spared, either. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia can expect temperatures around 15 degrees to 20 degrees, Hurley said. Northern Florida will be in the 20s to low 30s.

Sunday morning should bring the coldest temperatures from Portland, Maine, to Washington, DC. 'That's when you'll see records being challenged or broken, with temperatures at or near zero in many places,' Hurley said.

More seasonable weather is expected to return early next week with temperatures in the high 30s and near 40s, he said. For some, it will feel downright balmy.

Despite the deep freeze, schools in New York City and New Jersey will reopen on Friday. New York City schools will operate on a normal schedule as New Jersey schools get a two-hour delay.

Baltimore city public schools will also be closed on Friday. The city closed the public schools on Thursday following outrage from teachers and former NFL star turned teacher, Aaron Maybin.

Maybin posted photos and a video on his Instagram on Wednesday expressing his outrage over the school's heating issues that forced students to wear their coats, gloves and hats in classrooms with temperatures of 40F.

The school system said they immediately started addressing the issues as they learned of them on Wednesday.

Meteorologists said earlier on Thursday that Boston was unofficially nearing a water level record set during the Blizzard of 1978.

Matt Doody, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Taunton, told the Boston Herald that the Weather Service couldn't 'officially' call it a new record, but the water was hovering around the 15.1 foot mark set during the historic storm 40 years ago.

Baltimore city public schools will also be closed on Friday. The city closed the public schools on Thursday following outrage from teachers and former NFL star turned teacher, Aaron Maybin. Students were seen wearing their coats as they tried to keep warm in their classrooms

Maybin (pictured) posted photos and a video on his Instagram on Wednesday expressing his outrage over the school's heating issues that forced students to wear their coats, gloves and hats in classrooms with temperatures of 40F

The system is also very similar to a storm that hit the Northeast on the exact same day in 1989, according to the Weather Service.

At least a dozen people have been rescued from flooded homes in Marshfield, and a handful of others were rescued from cars under water in the South Shore region of Massachusetts.

'It's up over the roof of cars. It's up over four feet,' Deputy Fire Chief Louis Cipullo said of the floodwaters in the area.

Massachusetts Gov Charlie Baker said the flooding resulting from a 'historic high tide' led to the deployment of a number of National Guard high-water rescue vehicles to help stranded residents and vehicles.

The nor'easter dumped as much as 18 inches of snow from the Carolinas to Maine - causing schools and offices to close and more than 5,000 flights to be cancelled.

Forecasters expected the system to be followed immediately by a blast of face-stinging cold air that could break records in more than two dozen cities, with wind chills falling to minus 40 in some places this weekend.

Blizzard warnings and states of emergency were in wide effect, and wind gusts hit up to 76mph in some places. Eastern Massachusetts and most of Rhode Island braced for snow falling as fast as thre inches per hour.

The storm was powered by a rapid plunge in barometric pressure that some weather forecasters were referring to as bombogenesis or a 'bomb cyclone' and which brought fast, heavy snowfall and high winds.

Boston's fire department shared an image on Twitter of crew members saving a man whose car was floating in the ice water.

'Firefighters come to the rescue of an adult male trapped by rising water,' the dept. tweeted. 'The firefighters… bringing the driver to safety. Please avoid these dangerously high waters.'

Firefighter's on dry land help man out of zodiac boat, in Boston, Massachusetts on Thursday

The Boston Fire Department shared an image on Twitter of crew members saving a man whose car was floating in the ice water

'Firefighters come to the rescue of an adult male trapped by rising water,' the dept. tweeted. 'The firefighters… bringing the driver to safety. Please avoid these dangerously high waters.' The first responders were then seen carrying the man (pictured) to safety

The intense flooding (left) trapped some Boston residents inside buildings. Meanwhile one video showed the moment a garbage bin was knocked over as trash was washed down the street by floodwaters in Boston

The first responders were then seen carrying the man to safety.

One Boston resident shared a Snapchat video of someone kayaking through their icy street with a kayak.

The video was captioned: 'Cai has fled the scene via kyak.'

Mayor Marty Walsh warned people early on Thursday to stay off the highways as the storm hit the city.

'There continue to be too many cars on Boston's roadways. If you're not a plow or emergency vehicle, get off the roads. Crews are doing there best to clear the snow but there are still too many cars on the roads,' the mayor said in a tweet.

Meanwhile another video showed the moment a garbage bin was knocked over as trash was washed down the street by floodwaters in Boston.

The storm has been blamed for at least 14 deaths so far.

Three people were killed in North Carolina after their vehicles ran off snow-covered roads, authorities said. A fourth person died in South Carolina.

One Boston resident shared a Snapchat video of someone kayaking through their icy street with a kayak. The video was captioned: 'Cai has fled the scene via kyak'

Two others were killed in Virginia - one a 75-year-old man who was killed by a snow plow while clearing snow from a business parking lot in Hampton.

The other Virginian killed was a young girl who was run over while sledding down her street.

In New Jersey, Orlando Igmat's car got stuck in a snowbank along the Garden State Parkway in Tinton Falls as he drove to work at Verizon. He waited a half hour for a tow truck to pull him out.

'I didn't expect it (the storm) was going to be a heavy one. That's why I went to work today. I'm going to stay in a hotel tonight,' he said.

Gale-force winds destroyed the roof of a New Jersey gas station on Thursday.

Video of the incident showed the canopy of the Delta gas station on River Drive in Garfield, New Jersey, tip over around 2pm.

First responders had cut the power and cleared all people out of the station when the top finally blew off.

Drivers make their way along the flooded Beach Road after the ocean overtopped the seawall during a winter snowstorm in the Boston suburb of Lynn, Massachusetts on Thursday

Boston firefighters wade through a street flooded from tidal surge during Storm Grayson in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., January 4, 2018

Boston firefighters work at the scene of flooding from Boston Harbor on Long Wharf in Boston on Thursday

The Weather Channel on-camera meteorologist Jim Cantore stands at the Sandy Bay Yacht club as he reports on severe weather in Rockport, Massachusetts

Lighthouse Road in Scituate, Massachusetts begins to flood as a massive winter storm begins to bear down on the region on Thursday

A wave crashes over homes on Lighthouse Rd. in Scituate, Massachusetts on Thursday as a massive winter storm begins to bear down on the region

Above, another view of water crashing over homes in Scituate, Massachusetts on Thursday

JetBlue airplanes wait at the gates outside terminal five at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Thursday

A general view of the departures drop-off area at JetBlue, Terminal five, at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Thursday

Travelers wait inside terminal five at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Thursday. Flights in and out of the airport were suspended during the storm

The risk of power outages raised concerns about people going without heat. More than 100 warming centers were open in 34 towns across Connecticut, Gov Dannel P. Malloy.

Schools were ordered closed in New York City, many parts of New Jersey, Boston and elsewhere throughout the region.

CURRENT SNOWFALL TOTALS CITY INCHES NEW YORK, NY 9 NEWARK, NJ 6.6 ISLIP, NY 13.6 BRIDGEPORT, CT 8.0 NEW BRITAIN, CT 5.5 WESTERLY, RI 11.2 EAST PROVIDENCE, RI 10.4 BOSTON, MA 6.5 PORTLAND, ME 4.3

While kids stayed home, many parents still had to go into work.

Commuters who braved the storm in the morning worried that they could be stranded during the storm's peak expected later in the day.

'I don't know where I'll stay tonight if I get stuck, probably with my boss,' said Ran Richardson, 55, of Malden, Massachusetts, as he waited for a Boston subway to take him to training for his job as a Chinese-English translator.

The National Weather Service received multiple reports of coastal flooding in Massachusetts that made roads impassable.

On Plum Island, Massachusetts, residents were evacuated when a road connecting the island to Newburyport washed out. Residents were evacuated with a National Guard high-water vehicle.

Seawater was seen rising near buildings in downtown Boston and the suburb of Lynn. One video shows floodwaters carrying a car down the street in the Seaport neighborhood of Boston.

In the district, Joe Weatherly, a 40-year-old artist from Los Angeles, held his Boston terrier while searching for a seafood restaurant. Part of the district was flooded.

'For someone in California, this is really, really scary. Mind blowing,' he said. 'We don't live in a state where things shut down with the weather. I've just never seen this much snow in my life.'

A seawall may have given way on Front Street in Scituate, Massachusetts, while roads were reported as flooded and impassable in Gloucester.

As of 5pm, the winds had died down considerable. Earlier in the day, there were gusts as high as 76mph in parts of Massachusetts

The worst of the snowfall is expected in northern Maine. New York City will get eight inches, which is enough to cause traffic chaos in the major metropolitan area

A rapid drop in pressure caused by a 'bomb cyclone' off the coast of the Northeast is causing the heavy snow and winds

Temperatures will be remain well below freezing throughout the day all over New England

High winds were predicted for the Northeast on Thursday evening

Even after the snow is expected to stop, it will get even colder in the Northeast tomorrow, making clean-up almost impossible

Above are the current winter storm warnings throughout the region. The coastal areas are currently under blizzard warnings

This chart depicts the possible and likely power outages in the Northeast with Boston, Portland and Bangor seeing likely outages in the coming days

Most of today's flight cancellations are centered in the New York City area. Newark Liberty in New Jersey has the most cancellations of any airport, followed by Chicago, JFK, Atlanta and LaGuardia

A satellite image shows the blizzard battering the Northeast, and snow still on the ground in the coastal Southeast

NASA released maps on Thursday showing how unusually cold the U.S. is currently

They also released a map comparing the weather in the U.S. to around the world

'Our crews are working tirelessly across #Boston to clear the snow & keep people safe. Please stay off the roads at all costs, do not hinder snow removal efforts. Extra ambulances have been deployed along with increased @Boston_EMS staffing,' the city of Boston said on Twitter.

First-responders in Boston used rubber rescue boats to help people trapped on State and Atlantic streets near the aquarium, according to the Boston Herald.

Cars in the city were also trapped in the icy mess with flooding reported on Causeway Street, Lawley Street, Morrissey Boulevard and Seaport Boulevard.

Some 65,000 homes and businesses in the Northeast were without power, though that number was expected to rise as the storm intensified across the region.

More than 5,500 homes and businesses lost power Thursday morning in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on the outermost tip of Cape Cod, which was being lashed with hurricane-force wind gusts, the Eversource electric utility said. Much of that power was restored by early afternoon.

By the end of the storm, Massachusetts was hit with more than 22,000 power outages.

In Maine, the problem was a shortage of drivers to deliver heating fuel.

Temperatures in New York and Boston dropped down to 11F Thursday night

On Friday, New York temperatures will reach a high of 18F with a windchill

Boston and New York will still experience the windchill and brutally cold weather throughout the day and night

Sunday's forecast shows a partly cloudly New York and Boston with highs of 20F and 14F respectively

On Plum Island, Massachusetts (left and right), residents were evacuated when a road connecting the island to Newburyport washed out. Residents were evacuated with a National Guard high-water vehicle

There was also significant flooding around the Plum Island Beachcoma

Small independent fuel merchants in particular were overwhelmed by customers who do not have automatic refill service, the Portland Press Herald reported.

Linda Heuman and Amy Remensnyder were supposed to fly to Berlin on Thursday, but the flight was canceled. That left them stuck in their home in Providence, Rhode Island, with no food. So they trekked through the snow to a grocery store nearly a mile away.

Their plans for the rest of the day were simple: Make soup, do some desk work and maybe watch a movie with popcorn, Remensnyder said.

Schools, businesses and ferry services in parts of Atlantic Canada were also shut down. Nova Scotia Power said it had more than 1,000 people at the ready in its biggest-ever pre-storm mobilization of personnel and resources.

Wind gusts strong enough to topple trees and power lines were predicted in the Delmarva Peninsula, which includes parts of Delaware, Virginia and Maryland; coastal New Jersey; eastern Long Island, New York; and coastal eastern New England.

More than two-thirds of flights in and out of New York City and Boston airports were canceled. The flight-tracking site FlightAware reported more than 5,000 flights cancelled in and out of the US.

Yellow taxi cabs make their way through a snow-covered Times Square on Thursday

The US National Weather Service warned that a major winter storm would bring heavy snow and ice, from Florida in the southeast up to New England and the Northeast on Wednesday and Thursday. Above, another view of Times Square on Thursday

A woman wears ski glasses as she walks through the snow toward the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center subway station during the morning commute on Thursday in Brooklyn, New York

A vehicle, right, driven by Orlando Igmat, of New Milford, New Jersey, sits in a snowbank after skidding off the Garden State Parkway on his way to work during a snowstorm on Thursday in Tinton Falls, New Jersey

Above, a view from the Statue of Liberty's torch as the snow storm started Thursday morning

Pedestrians make their way across a plaza as strong winds blow the snow horizontally outside the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018

A handout photo made available by the Charleston International Airport on Thursday shows the effects of a rare snowfall at the airport

Crews clear snow from around the gates at Logan International Airport during a winter snow storm in Boston on Thursday

A notice board shows cancelled flights at Logan International Airport during a winter snow storm in Boston on Thursday

Da Thi Hoang and Searidang Pa wait at Logan International Airport, after successfully flying in from Los Angeles only to find their bus to Middlebury, Vermont was cancelled, during a winter snow storm in Boston on Thursday

A man shovels snow as traffic makes it's way through the Upper East Side of Manhattan on Thursday

Traffic makes it's way across 42nd Street as taxi cabs wait for passengers outside Grand Central Terminal on Thursday in New York

Two young men who wished not to be identified, try to get their car unstuck after a storm passed the area on Thursday in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Parked vehicles along Newport Ave. in Norfolk, Virginia are covered in snow on Thursday

A DelDot truck plows snow along Delaware Route 1 in Rehoboth, Delaware on Thursday

The Holland Tunnel entrance sign advises 'Avoid Unnecessary Travel' on Thursday in New York City

Snow falls over the Atlantic ocean at Bellport Marina as a blizzard hits the Northeast on Thursday

A woman makes her way along an above-ground Subway platform in Brooklyn on Thursday, left, while a man uses a walker to get through snow elsewhere in the borough, right

The conditions were so bad in New York City that all flights in and out of JFK and LaGuardia airports were suspended during the storm.

In fact, JFK will remain closed until Friday morning at 7am, according FAA.gov. JFK's closure caused an Airbus A380 to divert to a much smaller airport in New York Thursday afternoon.

The Airbus A380 - the world's largest passenger jet - was en route to land at JFK when it was diverted to Stewart Airport in Orange County.

Thursday's winds and whiteout conditions were to blame for the runway closures at JFk.

The Singapore Airlines-operated passenger jumbo jet - which has a wingspan of 262 feet - landed at the small airport around 1pm.

Stewart's runway can accommodate jumbo jets, but its gates aren't high enough. Therefore, the flight's 325 passengers had to exit the plane using outdoor stairs.

Air traffic suspensions at LaGuardia Airport have been lifted, but authorities advise passengers to contact their airlines regarding specific flights.

JFK's closure caused an Airbus A380 (pictured) to divert to a much smaller airport in New York Thursday afternoon

The Airbus A380 - the world's largest passenger jet - was en route to land at JFK when it was diverted to Stewart Airport in Orange County

Thursday's winds and whiteout conditions were to blame for the runway closures at JFk. The Singapore Airlines-operated passenger jumbo jet - which has a wingspan of 262 feet - landed at the small airport around 1pm

More than 14,000 flights were delayed in the Northeast and more than 2,000 were delayed within, into, or out of the US on Thursday.

Rail service was affected too. Amtrak planned to operate a modified schedule between New York and Boston on Thursday.

Northeast Regional Service between Washington, DC, and Newport News/Norfolk, Virginia, was canceled for Thursday.

The storm shut down much of eastern Virginia, but some people took it in stride.

Mark Schoenenberger, a 45-year-old NASA engineer who lives in Norfolk, Virginia, put on his cross country skis so he could make a half hour trip to the bagel shop for some breakfast for his family.

'It's like 'Yay, I get to go out,' he said.

The only concern he seemed to have was telecommuting while his kids were home from school. But 'it's just noise,' he said.

Waiting just behind the she storm was a wave of bracing cold.

It wasn't a good day for views at the Empire State Building, what with the whiteout conditions

NYPD police officers chat on a snow-covered Brooklyn Bridge on Thursday in Brooklyn, New York. The snow conditions are so severe that Manhattan is not even visible on the other side of the bridge

A snow plow clears snow off Broadway in New York's Times Square on Thursday

Cars enter the Brooklyn Bridge on Thursday in Brooklyn, New York during a snow storm

A ferry sails through whiteout conditions near Battery Park in lower Manhattan on Thursday

People walk through a snowstorm as they exit the Oculus at the Fulton Street transit hub beneath the World Trade Center in New York on Thursday

A man walks past snow plows as he makes his way toward the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center subway station in Brooklyn on Thursday

Children play in the snow in front of the New York Stock Exchange during a snowstorm in New York on Thursday

Washington DC Fire and Rescue practice their ice and water rescues in the Tidal Basin near the Jefferson Memorial on Thursday

A nearly empty snow-covered roadway entrance to the George Washington Bridge between New Jersey and New York is seen during a snowstorm in Fort Lee, New Jersey on Thursday

Capitol Hill is seen with a dusting of snow compared to more brutal weather along the Mid-Atlantic coast on Thursday

This aerial photograph shows snow in Washington,DC with the Washington Memorial Monument in the distance on Thursday

People make their way during a winter storm in New York on Thursday. Meanwhile, children in the city stayed home due to a snow day

An elderly woman makes her way through Times Square during a winter storm in New York on Thursday

National Weather Service Meteorologist Dan Peterson said record low temperatures were predicted for 28 major cities across New England, eastern New York and the mid-Atlantic states by dawn Sunday.

Many places in New England will be colder than Mars on Friday. On Thursday, the high on the Red Planet was -11 degrees. In Mount Washington, New Hampshire tomorrow, temperatures only reached a high of -16.

Officials reported road accidents throughout the Northeast, including in Manchester, New Hampshire, where a 32-year-old woman crashed a vehicle through the wall of a nursing home. No one was injured in that incident.

Maine has seen the most tidal flooding in 40 years. The high tide in Portland on Thursday was 13.79 feet, nearly reaching the 14.17 foot mark reported during the Blizzard of 1978.

New Hampshire's Seacoast area saw flooding in streets and people's basements.

Boston expected a low around minus 11 overnight Saturday into Sunday. Portland, Maine, and Burlington, Vermont, could see minus 16 and 19, respectively, the weather service said.

State and local officials urged people to stay home so crews could clear streets and roads of snow.

White-out conditions are seen in Hull, Massachusetts on Thursday. Hull is located on narrow peninsula that extends into Boston Harbor and often bares the brunt of winter storms that hit the area

Deep sea fishing and scallop boats docked at the Fish pier in Boston, Massachusetts on Thursday

A news crew readies for a live shot in Copley square in Boston, Massachusetts on Thursday

People walk through the streets of Boston as snow falls from a massive winter storm on Thursday

Residents in Brooklyn brave heavy snowfall from Winter Storm Grayson on Thursday

Left: Steve McCarthy weathers the wind and snow as he strolls up North Main Street in Attleboro, Massachusetts on Thursday. Right: A jogger runs across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City on Thursday

A snow plough removes snow from the sidewalks in Times Square in below freezing temperatures in New York City on Thursday

People walk along a frozen Potomac River during a snow storm in Washington, DC on Thursday

A homeless man sits on a steam grate for warmth alongside the National Mall during a snow storm in Washington, DC on Thursday

Freezing conditions in Buffalo, New York have caused water to freeze and turn into powdery ice crystals as it runs over Niagara Falls

There were concerns in Boston and elsewhere that if roads were not properly cleared, they could freeze into cement-like ice after the cold blast arrives.

In other areas, plummeting temperatures had already caused water mains to burst. Jackson, Mississippi, was under a precautionary boil-water notice after pipes failed. Portable toilets were placed outside the state Capitol because some of the toilets would not flush.

The massive storm began two days ago in the Gulf of Mexico and first struck the Florida Panhandle.

It was so cold in South Florida that iguanas fell from their perches in trees in suburban Miami. The reptiles became immobile when temperatures dipped below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

In Charleston, South Carolina, five inches of snow was enough for Chris Monoc's sons, ages four and two, to go sledding.

'They probably will be teenagers the next time something like this happens,' Monoc said.