By The Associated Press
Winter storm
watches were posted along the East Coast from the Carolinas to
New England on Friday as forecasters said a storm was brewing
that could bring the worst snowfall in five years in some areas.
``I hope to
be prepared,'' said Stella Budzinski of Lawrenceville, N.J., Thursday
as she left a Home Depot with a shovel, ice chopper and a bag
of ice melters. ``Everyone in the store is buying shovels and
getting ready. I hope it doesn't come.''
A low-pressure
system was forecast to form off the North Carolina coast Friday
evening and track up the East Coast.
Snow totals
of a foot or more were possible in some areas, and high wind could
create blizzard conditions.
In New York
City, the snow removal equipment was geared for action, along
with about 200,000 pounds of salt and thousands of cleanup workers.
It could be the largest snowfall in the city since the blizzard
of Jan. 7-8, 1996, which dumped more than 20 inches of snow.
In New Jersey,
the state's transportation department is equipped with 150,000
tons of rock salt
and more than
600 snowplows and salt-spreading vehicles, spokesman John Dourgarian
said Thursday.
``We are ready
for the storm,'' Dourgarian said. ``We follow a rule of thumb,
'We hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.'''
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