Winter storm wreaks havoc on US Midwest

DETROIT, Michigan — A plane carrying 129 people skidded off a slick Chicago runway on Saturday and a plow driver died when his truck rolled over outside Kansas City following a winter storm that covered many parts of the Midwest in snow and ice.

No injuries were reported on the United Airlines flight at O’Hare International Airport as it arrived on Saturday morning from Phoenix, Chicago Fire officials said. The massive storm which dumped 25 centimeters of snow on some areas in the Midwest prompted the cancellation of nearly 1,000 flights at Chicago’s airports. The average delay at O’Hare was nearly an hour on Saturday afternoon.

Kansas Department of Transportation snowplow driver Stephen Windler, 25, died about 6 am on Saturday on US Highway 69, according to the Wichita Eagle. A police crash report says his truck “traveled to the right, traversing the shoulder and drove into the grass” before it rolled over. Windler was thrown from the vehicle which landed on top of him.

The storm moved on Saturday toward the Northeast and New England. Some northern parts of New England could see up to 46 centimeters of snow.

In Detroit, many motorists were moving well below posted speed limits along freeways due to slushy conditions. Amtrak canceled some trains on Saturday from Chicago to Washington and New York and between New York and Boston and Pennsylvania on Sunday.

In Nebraska, authorities closed Omaha’s Eppley Airfield on Friday afternoon after a Southwest Airlines plane slid off an ice-slicked runway. No one was injured. The airfield later reopened.

The snow was part of a wall of hazardous weather that moved from the Dakotas across the Great Lakes states. The storm brought snow, ice and strong winds, followed by deep cold.

But some Midwesterners weren’t going to let a little winter weather keep them from going outside.

In downtown Detroit, Celeste Tremmel was out training for a marathon amid heavy and steady snowfall.

“When you run a marathon, you run no matter the weather,” said Tremmel, who plans to run a March marathon in South Carolina.

The storm prompted the cancellation of a Special Olympics competition in upstate New York. Nearly 200 athletes from around New York state were expected to compete in snowshoeing, snowboarding, cross country, and Nordic and Alpine skiing at West Mountain, just outside Glens Falls.