The Polar Express: The Day After
By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 13, 2010 1:30PM
What is understood doesn't need to be discussed. And, if you happened to go outside yesterday, you know that it was pretty bad from about noon through now. But we will share with you what havoc the weather did wreak yesterday, besides raising the heart rates of people who shoveled their sidewalks and driveways (twice right here) or the kids who, like folks at nearby Henry C. Palmisano Nature Park in Bridgeport, took advantage of the weather to toboggan and sled.
The combination of the snow and winds created "blizzard-like" conditions, forcing the cancellation of 1,375 flights at O'Hare and another 300-plus at Midway. Flight delays at Midway were as long as two hours. Airlines asked the Department of Aviation to initiate its Passenger Assistance Program, which provides cots, blankets and amenity kits to travelers.
The winds, which reached gusts of 50 miles per hour, brought 20-foot waves from Lake Michigan crashing onto portions of Lake Shore Drive, forcing the closure of the lane closest to the lake and the lakefront path due to icy conditions. The winds blew the roof off Navy Pier's Skyline Stage. Impressive, but nowhere near the damage the snow cna winds caused to the Metrodome in Minneapolis.