Freezing rain paralyzes Northeast

Icy roads cause pileups; winds cut power in Northwest

Shanell Taylor pours de-icer on icy stairs and walkways at Chambers United Methodist Church in Trenton, N.J., Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015. Rain "flash-freezing" on roads and sidewalks left an icy glaze under feet and tires across much of the northeast on Sunday, causing crashes that claimed at least four lives. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Shanell Taylor pours de-icer on icy stairs and walkways at Chambers United Methodist Church in Trenton, N.J., Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015. Rain "flash-freezing" on roads and sidewalks left an icy glaze under feet and tires across much of the northeast on Sunday, causing crashes that claimed at least four lives. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

NEW YORK -- Rain "flash-freezing" on roads and sidewalks left an icy glaze under feet and tires across much of the Northeast on Sunday, causing crashes that claimed at least four lives.

A crash involving 30 to 50 vehicles on Interstate 76 outside Philadelphia killed one person, and two others died in a crash involving multiple vehicles on nearby Interstate 476, police said. Both interstates are busy arteries serving communities west of the city.

In Connecticut, police cited slippery conditions in a crash that killed an 88-year-old woman whose vehicle struck a utility pole in New Haven.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Eugene Blaum called travel conditions "very hazardous" due to light rain falling onto cold surfaces, creating a sheet of ice.

"This is the worst type of winter precipitation to combat, because it can freeze instantly and it doesn't need to be the whole pavement for vehicles crossing it to have problems," Blaum said.

Kaitlyn Maier of Philadelphia said she came upon the I-76 accident moments after it happened as she was driving with her boyfriend to her niece's baptism, which she missed.

"Ten minutes before I was asking him, what is this? Rain, or what?" said Maier, who said she was 10 to 15 cars behind the wreck and saw smoke pouring from one vehicle. The line of crashed cars extended around a bend in front of her.

Within the next several minutes, Maier saw two cars collide and two other accidents that had just happened. They decided to stop at a diner to wait until the roads cleared.

"I've driven through snow a lot, and this isn't like anything I've ever driven in," Maier said.

New York's Department of Sanitation sent salt spreaders across the city Sunday morning, while New Jersey Transit awaited the salting of roads before resuming some bus routes. A flood warning was later issued citywide until 6 p.m. as the area continues to receive cold rain.

Conditions have since moved above freezing along the I-95 corridor from Boston to Philadelphia, the Weather Channel said.

Freezing rain and snow was expected in interior parts of New England, but the temperature was expected to rise into the 40s and 50s along the coast and change the precipitation to plain rain in time for the evening AFC Championship Game between the Patriots and Indianapolis Colts.

On the West Coast, high winds left tens of thousands of customers without power in the Seattle area, but power companies promised Seahawks fans they'd do their best to restore power before the NFC title game against the Green Bay Packers.

In eastern Oregon, highway officials partially reopened Interstate 84 Sunday after a pileup blamed on black ice Saturday closed more than 160 miles of eastbound lanes. Rain was expected in western Oregon on Sunday through today but not as much as fell on Saturday, when 1.8 inches of rain in Portland sent some untreated sewage into the Willamette River.

Freezing-rain advisories covered 32 million people earlier Sunday, the Weather Channel said. In areas patrolled by the New Jersey State Police, 428 accidents were reported while 186 requests for aid were made, according to a Twitter post by the police around noon.

News 12 New Jersey showed videos of accidents on Route 80, Interstate 95 and the Garden State Parkway, each involving more than a dozen cars and trucks driving on roads made treacherous by rain that immediately turned to ice. Officials this morning encouraged people to stay at home.

The Route 80 accident in Leonia, New Jersey, involved more than 38 cars and trucks, News 12 reported. At about 10 a.m., the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey closed the Palisades Interstate Parkway approaches to the George Washington Bridge. The agency also shut the Outerbridge Crossing and Bayonne and Goethals bridges connecting New Jersey and the New York City borough of Staten Island before reopening them with 10 mph speed restrictions.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority warned travelers on New York City's Metro-North commuter railroad to beware of ice on staircases, platforms and parking lots.

Information for this article was contributed by staff members of The Associated Press and by Marty Schenker, Dan Hart, Joe Sabo and Sylvia Wier of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 01/19/2015

Upcoming Events