Long Island got slammed with about 30 inches of snow from the blizzard and even though state and local officials' recommended drivers stay off the road, hundreds of drivers got stuck on the Long Island Expressway, where the roads are closed in both directions. WCBS 2 reports, "Cars were left disabled, in ditches and inside snow drifts." The Suffolk County Police spent the night helping disabled motorists to diners, hotels and gas stations—and even found some of their own vehicles stuck.
Authorities explained that vehicles got backed up and weren't able to pass each other—and the huge piles of plowed snow made it hard to exit the highway as well. The LIE was closed at 9:30 p.m.
According to Newsday, "A Suffolk sheriff's bus taking inmates from Central Islip court to Riverhead jail got stuck about 10 p.m. in Islandia as it tried to get onto the LIE from the service road, said Michael Sharkey, chief of staff for the sheriff's office. 'There's a hill, and they didn't get up the grade,' he said. Multiple sheriff's units were sent to secure the scene as attempts to move the bus stretched past midnight, Sharkey said. Garage personnel also were dispatched to get the bus moving, he said, and vans were on their way in case the inmates needed to be transferred."
CBS 2's Hazel Sanchez was amazed at the accumulation of snow, with some piles reaching five feet, "I have never seen anything like this. I grew up in the Midwest, where everyone talks about how it’s so much worse in the Midwest. I grew up in the Midwest, and I have never seen snow like this - an absolutely unbelievable sight."
