One song that may be left of the winter carol repertoire for New Yorkers this holiday season may be “Let it Snow” as white-out conditions has made life impossible…or at least really difficult. Long Island and New York City have been hit especially hard as a winter wonderland was forced upon them this weekend, making travel and holiday shopping come to a standstill.

NBCNewYork.com reports:

“In a press conference… Mayor Bloomberg announced that most highways were clear but the Sanitation Department was still working on secondary and tertiary roads.  Because of that work, garbage and recycling pick-up will probably not resume until at least Tuesday. Alternate-side parking will be suspended on Monday, the mayor said, but NYC public schools are expected to be open…”

Up to 2 feet of snow has already fallen in the Big Apple and more is expected to fall, breaking the 26-inch record of 2006. The National Weather Service has issued an advisory because of the snow and the freezing temperatures that will follow. Learn about winter weather safety from the New York City Office of Emergency Management.

Winter weather and freezing temperatures increase the risk of floods in homes and businesses. Flooding is not always necessarily caused by extreme amounts of rain or swollen rivers; burst pipes in a building can do the job just as well. One should take measures now to make sure the water in pipes does not freeze, expand, and crack the fixtures. If one needs motivation or a reason to do this aside from the hundreds or thousands of dollars it takes to remediate this problem, just think about this: would you rather be inside opening gifts this week or trying to figure out what you’re going to do because all of the gifts got wet because a pipe burst?

More on preventing frozen pipes.