Snow falls through evening in Chicago's northwest suburbs, some drivers caught by surprise
ELGIN, Ill. (CBS) -- The northwest suburbs were hit hard by the winter storm Tuesday, with snow coming down fast for hours early in the evening.
In Elgin, snow plow trucks were out on the roads nonstop Tuesday evening to get rid of the snow before it piled up. At the city's Public Works Department, workers were seen going in and out and loading up on salt.
The slushy snow came down quickly – catch some drivers by surprise. One such driver, Ganesh Subramanian of Elgin, tried to pull his van out of a parking lot - as its wheels were trapped under the snow.
"This is the first time I've experienced this," said Subramanian. "I've traveled in much worse weather than this, so it's really surprising for me that with weather like this, I got stuck."
Subramanian finally go this van out after several attempts.
The snow intensified as the night went on. The Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) remained clear despite the snowfall.
But in the smaller neighborhoods in Elgin, residents like C.J. Morgan were outside shoveling their sidewalks for hours – hoping the snow didn't turn into ice.
"It's part of, you know, living in the Chicagoland area is trying to get all the snow cleaned up," said Morgan. "It's pretty thick - I mean, it's real heavy and slushy, so it's going to be really hard for some people to get this cleaned up."
The City of Elgin said cleanup efforts will begin at 7 a.m. Wednesday. The city is asking everyone to avoid parking on emergency routes for at least the next 24 hours.