Overnight Flash Freeze Brings Concern After Tri-State Area Is Hit With Snow, Ice
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A winter storm that dumped snow and ice across the Tri-State area Monday caused some dangerous driving conditions that lasted throughout the entire day.
As CBS2's Weijia Jiang reported, the problems persisted on the roads late into the night in many areas – and a potential disaster was brewing in the late-night hours.
Roads were slushy and snowy, and combined with the freezing temperatures, it was sure to make for a slippery morning commute.
CHECK: Forecast & Alerts | School Closings & Delays | Traffic & Transit | PHOTOS: Winter Storm Hits Tri-State
Travel restrictions were already in place late Monday. In Suffolk County, no cars were allowed to go more than 45 mph, and a speed restriction was in place for at least part of the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey.
As CBS2's Lonnie Quinn reported, a winter weather advisory was also in place until 9 a.m. Tuesday for the five boroughs of New York City; Westchester, Rockland, Orange and Putnam counties to the north; all of Long Island and New Jersey; and southern Connecticut.
Even though no more snow was expected overnight, winds were expected to blow at 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph, and ice on the roads was expected to cause major hazards for travel.
On one residential block in Yonkers late Monday, it took three couples, the help of a couple of CBS2 photographers, and bags of kitty litter to dig out two sport-utility vehicles that slid on the street. And they even had four-wheel drive.
Incredibly, the two vehicles ended up inches apart from each other, and from Donald Howard's car that passed on Carver Terrace near Central Park Avenue.
"The freezing is what's bad," Howard said. "Snow doesn't do damage, but ice does."
Meanwhile, Virginia Howard hustled to clean off her car before the already-freezing temperatures were to plunge Monday night into Tuesday.
"It's icy," she said. "There's about five inches. We have to push that off then scrape the ice," Howard said.
Howard learned a tough lesson the last time it snowed.
"Last time, I tried to take the frost off my car in the morning before work -- didn't work," she said.
Many drivers were sure to face that mess on Tuesday, with cars parked and untouched – buried under inches of snow and encased in sheets of ice.
For cars that make it onto the roads, the morning commute could be challenging. Though plow trucks have been tackling side streets, some have not been cleared – and even some main roadways have been slushy and slippery.
As CBS2's Matt Kozar reported, the ice was creating particularly dangerous driving conditions in New Jersey during the evening rush. In Bergen County, driving was a downright dangerous endeavor.
In Mahwah, a fleet of plows traveled up and down Route 17 to keep the roadway clear. But Mother Nature had her own plans, and the blacktop ended up quickly being covered in fresh snow.
"We just passed an 18-wheeler tractor-trailer that was stuck, with a police officer trying to go on the off-ramp, and he was up a hill, so the police officer had to help him," said driver John Papain.
Twin brothers Keith and Kevin Smith couldn't get to work at all on Monday because of the storm.
"It was so bad that you couldn't even get on the roads," said driver Kevin Smith.
In Paramus on Route 17, there was less snow. But the sleet was just as dangerous, as the deep freeze led to black ice.
Plow operator Justin Kidd had been clearing parking lots since 3 a.m. and was still going more than 12 hours later.
"There was a layer of ice; when I first plowed, it was a couple of inches -- and the second time around, there was a sheet of ice, like, maybe that thick over everything, and that's the most dangerous part," Kidd said, "because you know, when that freezes up, the car goes everywhere."
Speed restrictions were in effect on some of the major highways in New Jersey.
"I'm avoiding going up hills. I was getting up a hill and started sliding back a bit and said this isn't going to work, made a U-turn," driver Robert Haley told CBS2's Janelle Burrell. "You've got to know how to navigate it."
In Lyndhurst, the icy rain on top of heavy wet snow moved up the demolition date for a vacant garage.
Partial garage collapse in #Lyndhurst #NewJersey because of heavy snow. No injuries @CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/UlKbIiChD6
— Janelle Burrell (@BurrellTV) February 2, 2015
The accumulation caused the entire structure on Green Avenue to collapse, sending power lines down onto Sharon Williams' car.
"It just had huge wires in it," she said. "People were reversing down the block because they were scared to come down the block with the wires hanging down."
"It is scary, it happened right across the street from where I live," resident Christine Musso said. "Thank God nobody got hurt."
Also in Lyndhurst, an entire block was also left without power when a semi-trailer truck making a food delivery to Shop-Rite pulled down a wire that was hanging because of the snow and ice. In the process, four utility poles snapped like matchsticks and came down, Kozar reported.
One pole was hanging precariously at a 45-degree angle over New York Avenue near Ridge Road. Power for residents of the block was not expected to be restored until Tuesday.
Public Service Electric & Gas crews and police were expected to be out all night long. Crews around 6 p.m. deenergized the wires to prevent any threat of electrocution.
The weather also shut down the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system Monday, according to published reports.
Meanwhile in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio urged commuters to avoid the roads all day Monday and use mass transit instead.
As was the case elsewhere, the concern Monday night in the city was flash freezing, as temperatures drop into the 20s and teens.
"We would expect maybe a half-inch of ice, and the snow is now going to cover the ice," Joe Esposito, commissioner of the city's Office of Emergency Management, told reporters, including WCBS 880's Marla Diamond. "So very slippery conditions on the roads and the sidewalks."
Alternate side parking regulations have been suspended through Tuesday, but public schools in the city are open.
As 1010 WINS' Derricke Dennis reported, Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia was also worried about the dropping temperatures and all the freezing of the snow and slush on city sidewalks and roads.
"There has been rain all day, and it's likely to start icing over," Garcia said.
She asked the public to pitch in and clear the storm drains on their block.
"Creating a little bit of a drain for it will get that water off the street , and therefore, it won't freeze," Garcia said.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo also urged New Yorkers to be prepared and cautious.
"I am urging all New Yorkers to exercise caution when traveling," Cuomo said in a statement.
In Westchester, commuters inched along treacherous, snowy highways. The conditions were blamed for one multi-vehicle accident that left two people dead on the New England Thruway (I-95) in Rye on Monday afternoon.
The fatalities occurred during the second of two accidents on an elevated section of the Thruway where it merges with I-287. Northbound lanes of the highway between exits 21 and 22 were closed on Monday afternoon following the accident.
Elsewhere in Westchester, drivers were doing their best to get somewhere.
"I have an SUV, so I'm hoping I'm able to plow through it," New Rochelle hospital worker Eileen O'Rourke told CBS2's Lou Young.
"I just take it easy," said cab driver Angelo Francois. "I don't go too fast. I go slow."
"It was a little tough. I saw a couple of cars getting stuck, and I actually got my shovel and helped some people that were stuck," a man in Yonkers told 1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon.
Tony was managing to get around in his subcompact car. His secret?
"Snow tires," he told 1010 WINS' Al Jones. "It's slick, but I've driven in Syracuse. This is like, nothing."
On Long Island, the concern over icing as temperatures drop caused the Suffolk County Police Department to issue a speed limit reduction for the entire county, CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported.
Speed limits have been reduced to a maximum of 45 miles per hour on all roads unless a lower speed limit is posted, police said.
"Recognize, once again, we are facing another extreme weather event that is highly dangerous and people need to be prepared to get off the roadways," Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said.
Many schools in the area delayed openings Monday or were closed because of the storm, which has left a slushy mess on sidewalks and roads.
"It's absolutely crazy," Bay Shore resident Remy Torsiello told CBS2's Ilana Gold. "I woke up. I thought there was going to be ice. Now, this road is getting flooded."
Several roads were flooded, and officials are warning cold temperatures could create dangerous icy conditions for the evening commute.
Storm drains covered with snow and slush worsened flooding conditions in some areas.
"We ask our residents to clear the storm drains," Mangano said. "We're finding that slush-covered storm drains are leading to additional flooding, which again will turn to ice and create treacherous conditions in the afternoon commute."
Emergency crews responded to dozens of accidents Monday, including an overturned truck on the Long Island Expressway, CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported.
As temperatures drop through the night, Long Island municipalities plan to continue the full salting and and sanding operations.
"You have to keep an eye on those temperatures -- when they drop, this water will freeze," Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano told 1010 WINS. "It's not going to be possible to remove all this water from this roadway, so you definitely will have icing conditions, which means you shouldn't be on the roadways unless you absolutely have to be."
Bob Hillman in Islip spent his morning digging out the clogged storm drain outside his home.
"I knew it was going to freeze and I didn't want to see anyone killed on the corner," he said.
Debra Kerr felt trapped in her Bellport house because of street flooding. All the snow that fell last week -- 2 feet in parts of Suffolk County -- mixed with freezing rain made for a soupy slush.
"I couldn't get out of the house, much less the car," she told Gusoff. "I still haven't gotten the newspaper. The flooding is too high."
On the Long Island Expressway in Syosset, two of the east bound lanes were shut down for more than an hour because of all the water, causing some serious delays.
A tractor-trailer also overturned Monday on the west bound side of the LIE near exit 52. No word on any injuries.
And in Connecticut, nearly a foot of snow in Southbury wasn't stopping postal carrier Ken Sokolowski from trying to complete his route.
"It is absolutely brutal," he told WCBS 880's Fran Schneidau. "It's starting to sleet like crazy right now, as you can see."
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