Nearly 30 million people in the northeastern United States are preparing for a powerful winter storm that could dump up to 90 centimeters of snow and cripple transportation.

The National Weather Service said the storm, known as a nor’easter, would bring heavy snow, hurricane strength winds and widespread coastal flooding through Tuesday.

The storm will affect an area stretching from New Jersey to the Canadian border, including New York City and Boston, which could get up to a meter of snow.

More than 3,500 flights have been cancelled, according the to flight tracking site FlightAware. At Boston’s Logan International Airport, officials announced service would end late Monday and is not expected to resume until later in the week.

The storm system driving out of the nation’s midsection also is expected to bring snow as far south as Washington, DC. But the nation’s capital largely will likely be spared the “white out” conditions that are forecast for points farther north.

Travel in the Northeast by car, train and air is expected to be severely disrupted as the storm makes its way up the Eastern Seaboard. Strong winds blowing off the Atlantic Ocean also may cause coastal flooding.

The forecast follows a pre-blizzard mini-storm that dumped several centimeters of snow on some of the same areas that are expected to be affected in the next days.

Officials expect widespread power outages to result from the new storm, which will affect the lives of tens of millions of people.

Officials in New York and New Jersey declared states of emergency and urged residents to stay off the streets for their safety.

“It is a serious blizzard. It should not be taken lightly,” said New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo. “It could be a matter of life and death and this is not being overly dramatic, so caution is required.”

He added that subway and train service in the city will be limited.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the storm could be one of the worst the city has ever faced, topping a list that goes back to 1872.

Meanwhile in the New England states of Massachusetts and Connecticut, officials warned that hundreds of thousands of people could be without power, possibly for days.

Across the region, store shelves were being cleared as people scrambled to pick up supplies including food and shovels, while preparing for the possibility of a few days spent indoors.

  alert, eastern seaboard, northeast, storm, u.s., weather