Midwest buckles under major winter storm

CHICAGO — Snow continued to fall in Chicago Wednesday morning as the area struggled to recover from a crippling blizzard that shut down roads and train service and left hundreds of motorists stranded. At an early morning briefing, city officials urged residents to stay home as plows try to clear roads of giant drifts created by snowfall totals exceeding a foot and winds that gusted overnight to 50 mph. The city shut down Lake Shore Drive for the first time in years as an untold number of motorists were stranded overnight after multiple car accidents on the iconic roadway.
O'Hare International Airport reported 17 inches of snow early Wednesday; Midway International Airport had 18 inches. The National Weather Service says 2 to 5 additional inches of snow will fall before the storm moves away and winds of 20 to 30 mph will continue through much of the day.
Airlines "pre-emptively" canceled more than 1,800 Wednesday flights at O'Hare and 200 flights were canceled at Midway, the Chicago Department of Aviation said. Chicago public schools are closed for the first time in 12 years and almost 80,000 ComEd customers in northern Illinois are without power.
Security guard Ed Ransom, 36, stopped for coffee after a long bus ride to work Wednesday morning. He was eager to get to work because power was out at his South Side home.
"What a mess," he said. "They warned us we would be getting a big one, and they sure were right."
The monstrous storm billed as the worst in decades barreled across the country from Texas to Maine, bringing a huge swath of the country to a halt, depositing dangerous amounts of ice and snow before hitting the winter-weary Northeast.
Missouri received as much snow as 1 1/2 feet, more than a foot dropped on northern Indiana and Oklahoma has up to a foot. In the Northeast, spots in northern New York had already gotten more than a foot of snow.
Madison, Wis., received more than a foot of snow in 24 hours. High winds caused massive waste-high snowdrifts to shut down much of the city Wednesday morning.
Restaurant worker Marcus Ortelee woke up to drifts over 4 feet high in front of his house. "This is the third time I've been out shoveling since 10 p.m. last night," he said. "I've been in worse because I used to live in Alaska, but we just don't get volumes of snow here like this."
Forecasters Wednesday warned that ice accumulations could knock down some tree limbs and power lines and affect transit service, even as plow drivers struggled to keep up with the snow on many roads.
Thousands of airline flights were canceled across the country as the storm covered a distance of more than 2,300 miles.
Life came to a standstill in a wide swath of the nation. Legislatures, schools and businesses closed, athletic events were postponed, and people stayed home. Chicago public schools called a snow day for the first time in 12 years. The city closed iconic Lake Shore Drive so crews could plow.
Gingham's Homestyle Restaurant in St. Charles, Mo., is open 24 hours, even on holidays, but owner Craig Uttendorf closed the doors Tuesday afternoon. "It's been sleeting pretty good," he said, "and we've got a blizzard warning. We never close, but today is just not worth it."
Blizzard warnings Wednesday were still in effect in seven states.
The Iowa Department of Transportation said most roadways in the state were partially or completely covered with ice and snow. Fatal wrecks were reported in Minnesota and Kansas.
"If you don't have to travel, don't do it. If you can stay home, do it," Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said.
Ice coated Missouri and portions of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. All of Interstate 70 in Missouri was closed between St. Louis and Kansas City.
In Indiana, 850 members of the National Guard were activated and 26 shelters prepared. "There's only so much man can do to control Mother Nature, and ultimately Mother Nature will always win," First Sgt. Dave Bursten of the Indiana State Police said.
Power failures caused by icing are a major concern. The storm caused about 18,000 Indiana customers to lose power, but electricity was restored to all but 8,500 customers, said Joe Wainscott of the state Department of Homeland Security.
Road crews tried to keep up with heavy snow and ice while drivers confronted snowfall rates of 2-3 inches per hour in some areas.
Jorma Duran of the Missouri Department of Transportation said it takes 100 to 200 pounds of salt to cover one lane for one mile during an average winter storm — and more in an ice storm. On Tuesday, the Missouri DOT doubled those normal rates. Cost per ton of salt: $60. The state is using 1,500 snow vehicles to cover 33,000 miles of roads in the next 48-72 hours.
Ruddie's Quik Stop, a convenience store in El Reno, Okla., ran out of milk, eggs and bread Tuesday, owner Ruddie Leathers said. He wasn't sure when resupplies would be able to get through. "Usually we think 6 inches is a terrible storm," he said. "This is the kind of excitement I don't need."
The blizzard halted production of today's Tulsa World, the first time in more than a century that the newspaper has not published.
At the Blind Tiger restaurant in Topeka, general manager Mike Bowman said he plans to remain open even though a coating of ice slowed business "almost to a screeching stop" before it began to snow. Double-digit snowfall totals were expected.
"I'm about tired of winter already," Bowman said.