A winter storm packing snow, freezing rain and biting wind cut power to hundreds of thousands of customers Friday, disrupted travel and gave schoolchildren from Iowa to New England an early start on their holiday break — while the northwest braced for more snow and ice this weekend.
“One thing about it, you’re going to have a white Christmas this year,” said Lee Longdyke, as he shoveled a sidewalk in Pontiac, Mich., for the third time Friday morning.
More than 200 flights were canceled at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, and more than 650 at three New York City-area airports. Many remaining flights had delays.
Snowfall affected a large region, but the worst of the ice storm — and resulting power outages — was in a band across northern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Power companies reported 60,000 customers in Illinois without service Friday, more than 35,000 in Ohio, and a whopping 180,000 in Indiana.
“When you combine ice, which is an electric utility’s nightmare, with wind, you’ve got some serious issues,” said Indiana Michigan Power spokesman Mark Brian.
Spokane, Wash., was digging out from nearly 2 feet of midweek snow; more was in the forecast for this weekend.
In Seattle, 11 people were hurt Friday when two charter buses crashed on an icy street, pushing one through a guardrail next to Interstate 5 and leaving its front wheels dangling above the freeway.
