Winter Weather Leaves Residents Without Power, Travelers Stranded

Feb. 15, 2007 — -- The monster winter snow and ice storm that began Wednesday and spread across 20 states has already caused 13 deaths and knocked down power lines, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in the dark.

Accidents have littered roadways; the highway patrol in Ohio has handled more than 1,200 accidents. The storm has caused some of the worst driving conditions this decade.

In Kentucky, a police cruiser's camera captured out-of-control cars and trucks sliding on the ice; moments later, a FedEx truck slid and slammed into several cars.

In Philadelphia, there was chaos on the highway when people trying to push a stranded car to safety were nearly struck by another car that couldn't stop.

Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania was a virtual ice-age parking lot with hundreds of motorists stranded behind accidents and in between mounds of snow.

A slick blend of snow, sleet and rain combined with frigid temperatures made the nation's roadways deadly and dangerous.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority has "literally hundreds of plow trucks with people who are working 24 hours a day getting the snow off the road," said the authority's executive director Michael Lapolla.

The problems go beyond the roads, though.

In Cleveland, a gas station's roof crumbled under the weight of immense snowfall. Even Amtrak had to cancel portions of its service throughout its Northeast Corridor, where about 300,000 people may still go without power today.

Across the country, freezing temperatures will continue. Chicago will see a high of 8 degrees, Cleveland a high of 14. In Washington, D.C., the high will be 26. Temperatures will reach 24 in both New York and Boston.

Drivers aren't the only ones feeling the sting of this storm; airline passengers are paying the price, too.

Nearly 3,000 flights were canceled with some people stranded within sight of the airport gates for up to 10 hours.

Passengers on one JetBlue flight at JFK International Airport thought they were going to Cancun, Mexico. Instead, for nearly eight hours, they were trapped on the tarmac.