Frigid temperatures, cleanup efforts follow massive winter storm

Much of the country on Thursday fought frigid temperatures and began the tedious task of digging out from one of the worst snowstorms on record.

The National Weather Service reported temperatures in the teens and single digits across much of the country, but bone-cracking winds pushed the chill into negative territory for many parts of the Midwest. Ice, snow and the deep freeze continued a week of misery for as many as 100 million people in more than 30 states.

As much as two feet of snow was recorded in many parts of the Midwest, while the winds created drifts as high as an elephant’s eye. Light snow continued to fall in parts of the Northeast as the remnants of the storm that trekked across some 2,000 miles dealt its final continental blows Thursday morning.

The usual storm-related dangers were reported. Drivers were stranded in hard-to-plow areas, schools remained closed and power outages were reported as crews fought the elements to reach downed lines in a region that spread from parts of Ohio to New Jersey.

Airlines struggled to return to normal schedules amid a week of cancellations and delays. More than 13,000 flights have been canceled in recent days, airlines reported, more than the Christmas holiday storms.

But in the storm’s wake came a new danger as snow piled up on roofs, stressing already overloaded structures. Collapses were reported in Middletown, Conn., where the third floor of a building imploded. A gas station canopy collapsed on Long Island, N.Y., and hangar damage was reported in Boston.

Hurting the cleanup efforts was the problem of what to do with the snow and ice. There were problems in areas such as Albany, N.Y., notorious for the difficulty in cleaning up winter’s detritus. The late political boss of the city, Daniel P. O’Connell used to joke that God had brought the snow and that it was his responsibility to take it away.

In another former political-machine city, Chicago, the cleanup was hampered by the record snowfall, with more than 20 inches recorded in the aptly-named Windy City.

Public schools were canceled for a second day in Chicago, but Lake Shore Drive, the serpentine roadway at the edge of the water, reopened before dawn. Drivers had abandoned hundreds of vehicles during the worst of the storm Tuesday and Wednesday.

But it was more than just inconvenience that marked this storm; at least a dozen deaths have been reported.

Meanwhile, officials throughout the Northeast reported new seasonal records from snowfall: Newark, N.J., has 62 inches of snow, compared with the seasonal average of 25 inches. In New York City, 56 inches of snow has fallen on Central Park, compared with the average of 22 inches.