Leslie's Omnibus

Traffic Alert

If you're anywhere in the Midwest and don't have to drive today, STAY HOME.
Wicked blizzard winds continue to take their toll this morning, with hundreds of cars still stranded, many major roads closed and Metra shutting down five lines and running Sunday schedules on the rest.

As the National Weather Service put it: "Crippling and potentially killer blizzard to continue to this morning."
Seriously, I can hardly make out the building across the street, and it's a high-rise.

Not that bad, you say?
The forecast calls for 2 to 5 inches more this morning, with high winds continuing into the afternoon, at times gusting to 40 mph. Total accumulations will be in the 12- to 18-inch range over north central Illinois and the 15- to 24-inch range in the Chicago area, the weather service said.
I'm not kidding about not driving.
On Lake Shore Drive, firefighters checked dozens of vehicles, shining flashlights inside to check on any motorists. As of 6:30 a.m., fire officials said anyone who wanted to be rescued from their cars had been. Both directions of the Drive remained closed as cars were towed away.

In Kane County, snowmobiles were used to reach people stranded along a stretch of road near Hampshire. Will County officials said they were having problems reaching stuck motorists.
Most of those people who are stuck have been there since about 6:00 p.m. yesterday.

Don't be a moron and wait for the City, Town or County to close roads. We've had more than our fair share of warnings about how bad this would be. Metra has shut down some lines and moved to a Sunday schedule on others. CTA buses are running, but you're going to wait a long time for one, and it'll take you a long time to get to your destination. Seriously -- stay home.
_____
Update: If you were one of those folks rescued off of Lake Shore Drive last night, call "311" and they'll tell you where your car was towed to. Also, let them know if you ran out of gas and the city will send a truck to help you.
_____
Ooooo! They're now predicting up to 25 inches of snow here in the city!
Leslie

3 comments:

Teresa said...

So does this mean you have to spend another night at the office? That wouldn't be fun. Unless of course there's some good restaurants nearby that are open!

Omnibabe said...

I actually got a reservation at the Allegro Hotel for tonight. That $99 rate was too sweet to pass up... and they've got a DANDY restaurant... and TWO bars!

Plus, I can have them launder the outfit I've been wearing for the past 36 hours overnight. All in all, not a bad deal.

(But really, this has been kind of a fun adventure. Just don't tell the bosses, m'kay? They might get too used to my zany brand of loyalty!)

Teresa said...

LOL - sounds most excellent!