Some of the heaviest snow storms for decades have struck the eastern United States, paralysing air and road transport and bringing large parts of the capital Washington to a stand still. Virginia, Maryland and Delware have declared a state of emergency. Weather officials are advising people to stay at home for up to five days . Although the snow is still falling the hard work of clearing it is already underway. Workers have taken to the streets to undertake the back breaking task of digging out the capital despite the fact that the weather forecasters have said an additional five centimetres of snow would be added to the already thirty on the ground every hour. The storm is likely to be the worst for ninety years .