Winter Storm Avery Causes Chaotic Commutes, Strands Students at School Overnight, Kills 11 on Slick Roads

Conditions were improving for most in the Northeast Friday after Winter Storm Avery left at least 11 people dead in accidents blamed on the ice and snow, stranded commuters for up to 12 hours, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands, and forced some students to stay at school overnight.

Thursday evening's commute became an absolute nightmare for drivers, especially in parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Traffic sat still for hours on turnpikes and interstates and crawled at a snail's pace when it could move. New York drivers reported being stranded for up to seven hours.

There was at least one death during the nightmarish commute – a New Jersey woman who was killed when a transit train struck her vehicle, according to NJ.com. The collision occurred in the town of New Providence, the report added.

Pennsylvania troopers on Friday morning had to wake up drivers who fell asleep in their vehicles while stranded on at 30-mile stretch Interstate 78 in Lehigh Valley, the ABC affiliate WPVI in Philadelphia reported. "Drivers, wake up! Traffic's moving!" police shouted to drivers. Some drivers had been stranded 12 hours.

Passengers who rely on public transit also found themselves facing long delays or canceled services.

(MORE: NYC Commuters Ask Why City Wasn't Better Prepared)

Schools were caught in the chaos. Students at a middle and high school in West Orange, New Jersey, ended up staying in their school overnight because of accidents on I-280, WABC reported. School there was canceled Friday. Special education students were reportedly stuck on a bus for 10 hours while trying to get home to the Bronx from Manhattan.

Nationwide, more than 1,800 flights were canceled Thursday, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. USA Today said Philadelphia, Washington’s Reagan National Airport, Baltimore and New York area airports were among the hardest hit Thursday. Flights were being diverted from JFK and LaGuardia on Thursday evening, and more than 500 additional flights were canceled Friday.

New York

As Avery's snow reached New York City, a multi-vehicle accident brought the George Washington Bridge to a gridlock Thursday afternoon. All lanes were blocked, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey tweeted. All lanes reopened shortly after 6:30 p.m., but travelers were advised to expect delays.

In addition to the George Washington Bridge being closed, the Holland Tunnel and the Lincoln Tunnel were both experiencing delays.

A disabled semitrailer truck blocked all westbound lanes of the Gowanus Expressway at the Belt Parkway split in Brooklyn about 4:30 p.m.

Central Park received 6 inches of snow by Thursday evening.

The Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan was closed to any more passengers about 5:30 p.m. because it was so overcrowded, the New York Times reported. Only a limited number of buses were able to make it to the terminal in Manhattan.

After being in line for an hour, Marlyne Page, an executive assistant who works in Midtown, was still a block away from the entrance to the bus terminal and her bus to Passaic. “And this isn’t even a real storm,” she said. “Someone didn’t plan.”

Officials were telling people to take ferries or trains. However, commuters said, Penn Station also became dangerously crowded.

Multiple accidents shut down portions of N.Y. Route 17 near Vestal and Apalachin. WBNG reported that a semitrailer truck carrying wood overturned at the Route 26 bridge that connects Vestal and Endicott. Closures were announced at Route 17 westbound between the Nichols and Barton exits and Route 17 westbound between the Apalachin and Vestal/Endicott exits.

Trees were falling on streets in New York City's Hell's Kitchen.

Pennsylvania 

The Pennsylvania Turnpike came to a standstill for hours on Thursday. Several interstates were closed and bridges had iced over in dozens of locations. 

A person identified as Kristin Anne on Twitter said she got on the Turnpike in Quakertown at 12:30 p.m. and it took her six hours to reach her destination of Media, about 45 miles away. That was after sitting still for at least three hours.

About 50 disabled and homeless people were stranded at an Allentown Dunkin Donuts when LANTA bus service was suspended at 2:30 p.m.

(MORE: Check the Latest Forecast for Winter Storm Avery)

Across much of the Lehigh Valley, the snow caused semitrailer trucks to jack-knife, cars to run off the roads and fender-benders galore.

After being stuck in traffic on Route 309 for three hours, Rebecca Schorr, who moved from California to Pennsylvania about eight years ago, told the Morning Call, “I have never seen anything like this. It has already taught me some things as far as winter preparedness, but they never touched upon this in drivers ed in Southern California.”

Crashes and disabled vehicles slowed Route 22 to a crawl in South Whitehall Township.

Interstate 78 eastbound was jammed from Route 33 to Lehigh Street, and in Berks County, the interstate was being closed as of 5:20 p.m. American Parkway in Allentown was gridlocked.

Northbound Interstate 83 was is closed between MM 28 and MM 40 because of disabled vehicles.

The number of accidents in Lancaster County alone topped 180 between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., according to Lancaster Online.

CBS 3 in Philadelphia reported Montgomery County saw more than 250 accidents and 350 disabled vehicles beginning at noon Thursday. Delaware County officials reported 150 accidents.

A camel was seen walking along the side of Route 309 near Souderton. Bob Strange told CBS 3 Philly he thought the trailer hauling the camel got stuck in the snow.

A few school districts that originally planned on early dismissals are keeping students at schools with road conditions worsening.

Hempfield School District said some buses are unable to complete routes and are trying to find alternates.

New Jersey

“Listen, we’re getting clobbered,” New Jersey Gov. Philip Murphy said. “No forecast — none — predicted this. This is slower, it’s deeper, it’s colder.”

On Friday, Murphy reiterated that the "lousy" forecast was partially to blame for the state's lack of response, but acknowledged the need for better preparation in future storms this winter.

"Clearly we could have done better and we will do better," Murphy told the AP.

The renovated Bayonne Bridge was closed in both directions Thursday afternoon because of slippery conditions and because drivers couldn't make it up the steeper inclines, NJ.com reported. A spokesman for the Port Authority told the website the bridge would be reopened after the stuck cars were removed and trucks could salt and sand the bridge.

Stretches of the Garden State Parkway and Interstate 78 were closed Thursday night.

Significant delays or accidents were reported on Route 20 in Paterson, Route 10 in Randolph, the Palisades Interstate Parkway, Route 287 in Parsippany and Route 23 in Wayne, NorthJersey.com reported. On Route 3, a semitrailer jack-knife and caused delays.

A number of New Jersey school districts remained closed on Friday.

New Hampshire

WMUR.com reported a vehicle crashed through the front window of a liquor store in Pittsfield Friday morning. Nobody was injured in the crash that occurred on snow-covered roads, but the store will be closed Friday for clean-up, the report added.

Michigan

Officials told the Associated Press that crashes on slippery roads led to the deaths of two commuters in Michigan on Thursday. One victim was identified as Frances May Engeseth, 77, who died in a crash in western Michigan's Wayland Township. The other fatal crash occurred in the southern part of the state in Henrietta Township, and the victim was an 18-year-old woman, the AP reported via the Jackson Citizen Patriot.

Indiana

A 33-year-old woman was killed after a tree fell on Interstate 65 early Thursday near Sellersburg in southern Indiana. Three other people were injured. The Courier-Journal reported that Indiana State Police said the woman, Isidra Cornejo Pineda of Lilburn, Georgia, died at the scene. She was a passenger in the minivan that slowed to avoid the fallen tree. A UPS tractor-trailer couldn't stop in time and hit the minivan.

Ice on the roads of Central Indiana caused large several large school districts to close and numerous crashes.

Indianapolis Public Schools were closed Thursday due to poor driving conditions, as well as Carmel-Clay and Hamilton Southeastern districts, according to the Indy Star.

The Indiana State Police reported a "couple dozen accidents" had slowed traffic along Indianapolis-area interstates.

Ohio

One person was killed in an accident that started a chain of a dozen other crashes along U.S. 30 in Stark County.

Barry Bailey Sr., a 61-year-old from Paris Township, was killed early Thursday morning in the crash, county investigator Rick Walters told the Canton Repository.

The cause of the accident “appears to be ice on the road with the very low temperatures and the rain,” said Lt. John Bosley of the Canton Police Department.

No other injuries have been reported from the chain of accidents.

Maryland

A woman was killed in Millersville Thursday morning after her car slid on a mix of rain, sleet and snow into oncoming traffic, according to the Captial Gazette.

An Anne Arundel County vehicle struck the woman's sliding sedan, sending it into a nearby ditch, said county fire department spokesman Capt. Russ Davies. 

The driver of the county vehicle was taken to Baltimore Washington Medical Center to be treated for minor injuries. The woman's name has not been released.

The fatal accident was one of nearly four dozen crashes that occurred between 4:30 a.m. and noon, Davies added. A woman and two children were seriously injured in a two-car accident on Route 2 in Deale.

Arkansas

Three people were killed in two separate crashes on icy roads in the Little Rock area Wednesday night, according to the AP.

Arkansas State Police reported 26-year-old Quinten Young of Little Rock was killed after hitting a patch of ice and crossing into opposing traffic. Jack Winover, 49, who Young collided with, was injured in the accident.

Two people were killed in the Jacksonville area when their car veered off U.S. 67/167 before colliding with a tree. The driver, whose name hasn't been released, was killed along with passenger 56-year-old Meralon Noah, state police confirmed.

Mississippi

DeSoto County emergency responders said that two people were killed and at least 44 were injured when a bus traveling along Interstate 269 overturned on Wednesday, according to WMC-TV.

The victims of the crash were identified as 70-year-old Betty Russell and 61-year-old Cynthia Hardin, said DeSoto County Coroner Joshua Pounders. Both women were from Huntsville, Alabama, where the bus was traveling from. The accident took place about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee.

Witnesses told state investigators the driver of the bus has lost control after driving over an icy overpass, before rolling onto its side, said Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Capt. Johnny Poulos.

"All of a sudden the bus started swerving then it spun around two times, hit the rail and then flipped over," said bus passenger Veronica Love as she left a hospital after the wreck. "The second spin, it started picking up speed. It was, I mean, what could you do?"

"I'm just thankful I'm alive," Love added.

Teague VIP Express, the operator of the tour bus, posted on its Facebook page, "Our hearts and prayers go out to victims of this tragedy. Please keep everyone involved and (their) families in your prayers."

Three of the injured were listed in serious condition Wednesday evening.