Storm Brings Much of U.S. to Standstill : Midwest, Northeast Latest to Get Blinding Snow, Freezing Rain

The tail end of a major winter storm blamed for at least 30 deaths slashed across the Midwest to the Northeast today, unleashing blinding snow and freezing rain and bringing traffic on many highways to a standstill.

The leading edge of the storm moved off the Eastern Seaboard, but the large system spread snow early today from Oklahoma, across the Midwest and into New York and New England. By afternoon, the storm had moved out of Missouri after dumping about five inches of new snow in the St. Louis area.

“It’s moving rapidly eastward and also spreading north from the mid-Atlantic coast into southern New England,” National Weather Service forecaster Pete Reynolds said. “By daylight (Tuesday), you’re looking at mainly flurries from the Great Lakes to northern New England.”

Strong winds whipped up the snow and reduced visibility to near zero, making for hazardous driving conditions.

Roads ‘Just Bad Everywhere’

“The main interstates are all down to one lane now,” an Illinois State Police spokesman in Springfield said late this morning. “The roads are just bad everywhere.”

Many drivers in central Illinois were forced off the road by the blinding storm and waited it out in roadside cafes.

“Everything is in a ditch,” said trucker Joe Belotti, who was forced to cut short his run from Chicago to the Springfield area. “You’re just blinded out here.”

The storm has tormented the country since the middle of last week when it swept into the Rockies from western Canada and buried parts of Colorado under five feet of snow and gave Oklahoma City its heaviest snowfall in four decades.

Schools Shut Down

Up to five inches of new snow fell this morning in Rockville, Ind., and Quincy, Ill., three inches coming in one hour. Bangor, Me., picked up three inches of snow.

Some schools scheduled to hold classes today despite the federal holiday in Missouri and Indiana were forced to shut down because of the snow. Scattered power outages were reported in sections of central Indiana as ice-coated power lines snapped.

Freezing rain added to icy conditions, glazing parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maine.

The storm also spread heavy rains throughout the weekend and again today from the mid-Atlantic States to the Southeast, prompting flood warnings and watches in parts of Tennessee, Louisiana, the Virginias, Maryland, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

Families Evacuated

Five families were evacuated in the Livingston area of western Alabama on Sunday, near the Mississippi line, because of flooding from the Sucarnoochee River. The rain there stopped today and officials said the river would crest at a lower than anticipated level.

The heavy rain may have caused a CSX Railroad freight train derailment north of Montgomery, Ala., this morning. Forty-one cars, including eight engines, of the 121-car train jumped the track in a rural area near Deatsville. There were no injuries. CSX officials said the track bed may have been washed away by rain.