A ferocious snowstorm pummeled the northeastern United States for a second straight day on Saturday, killing at least two people, bringing transportation to a halt and cutting off power to at least half a million customers.

The storm dumped more than a foot and a half of snow on New York state and Connecticut, severing power and transport links for tens of millions of people. Massachusetts, which was due to bear the brunt of the blizzard, was forecast to get up to two feet of snow.

With wind and heavy snow snapping power lines everywhere in the affected area, more than half a million customers sat in homes without electricity, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

The storm came a little over three months after Hurricane Sandy devastated swathes of New York and New Jersey, killing 132 people and causing damage worth some 71.4 billion dollars.