this is a special report after a super snowstorm. >> we've been bringing you stunning video from the crack of dawn from flooding in new jersey store >> and now iced over inlet as well. the massive storm has been piling up the snow all day as municipalities struggle to keep up. >> still in the middle of a blizzard new yorkers find a way to have fun.

bunch. they are showing off their unique style. we are continuing our special expanded coverage of the blizzard of 2016. sadly we just learned from mayor de blasio that three new yorkers died from shovelling snow. states of emergency now and still in effect in new york and new jersey. >> that travel ban in effect until probably early tomorrow morning. >> metro north and long island railroad service is suspended as well, mta bus service is suspended and out door subway station are closed. >> from the bureaus, to the jersey shore a team of eyewitness news reporters has been covering this storm. >> we'll get the latest now from our meteorologist lee

>> here's a w for white out. snow covered, whipping winds. still at 6:00 in new york city 27 degrees and winds at 14 gusting to 32. we are knocking on the door here of the top five biggest snowfalls in new york city history. we're estimating around 20 inches because the last reading was got was 19.4 at 4:00. we've seen 30 inches of snow in parts of northern new jersey. we had a cut off north of i-84. meteorologist jeff smith is in the thick of it outside still getting be belted in the final stages of this storm. >> reporter: here is 19.3

out here. you see people walking down the streets of new york city. let's check out some a lot of places now exceeding the 20 inch mark. let's check out the totals. a lot of places right now over 20 inches. 21 inches. hoboken 20.5. look at la guardia airport, 20 .4 inches. in suffolk county 19 inches. you head up towards york town and it's more like 10.5 as we're closer to that cut off. fairfield, connecticut and southern parts of fairfield county checking in with 11 inches. bridgeport further north and east checking in with 7 inches. there's more snow to come from. these 1 to 2 inch per hour snowfall rates stay with us until about 7:00,

it's amazing how this intense snow band set up over the most densely populated area. >> everything was about dc and we're going to end up being the sweet even though we're seen the final stages where we're starting to see weakening and fracturing it's still settling up across connecticut. this hones in on the steadiest snowfall in the areas of pink and red. less red and more pink. the areas still over queens and parts of manhattan will continue to pile it up here. that means we still have a few hours to go. one low starting to take over in the ocean. this will also collapse into the atlantic but it's going to take several hours. the finals are not until midnight to 2:00 to 3:00 a.m. we're still

our winds are starting to shift more northerly on the coast. we could have some damaging tides especially in the jersey shore. this future cast is just painfully slow trying to get out of here. even at 9:00 there's still some light accumulating snow. the wind is it's blowing and drifting. you're still going to look out the window and say it's still going. finally at 11:00 we'll see this thing pulling out. still on the heavy snow bands. 2 inches an hour in some of these bands. the intensity does diminish. it's a slow process. we're talking about the potential for 30 inches. we're seeing 20 to 24 inch amounts over long island. another update coming up soon. >> thank you, lee.

mayor de blasio is showing a lot of confidence in the way the city has been handling this storm. dave evans is live on coney island with a little bit more more. dave. >> reporter: we're going to see a lot of this in the next few days, lots of piles of snow. this is part of what the sanitation department calls a new operation called pile and haul. that's when we get above 12 inches of snow we are certainly in that category. they pile the snow here and then they are going to bring in melters and melt all of that snow over the next few days. i want to take you over here to surf avenue on coney island. the mayor wanted this travel ban for a couple of different reasons, so the plows could get through and emergency vehicles could get through. some people are ignoring that ban. it took

>> there some wiggle room? >> no. people should get home. they should have heard it by now. the vast majority of people have technology, they have that radio on, they have their e-mail, they have their smart phone or whatever it is. we've been very clear. we gave you about 2 hours notice. get off the street now. >> right now we have a truck pulling out a stuck van right down the street here. people need to get off the roads. they need to let the emergency services and fire and sanitation do their job. >> what's it like driving on the streets right now? >> for me it's fun. yeah. >> but you know a ban on all travel went into effect at 2:30? >> oh, did it? >> yeah. you're not supposed to be out on the 2:30. as of 2:30. >> we're just taking some photographs. >> this storm today is worse than what we expected i think. >> absolutely.

at of hype in advance of a storm and it turns out be less than what was expected but in this particular instance it's gotten worse. the city was prepared. >> when you hear those kind of numbers that's why we need a travel ban. it's time for people to get home and ride this storm out. >> reporter: now, we took a tour here of the clean up operation on coney island with both the mayor and also chief o'neil this afternoon. they both tell us that the last time that we saw a travel ban in new york city was on january 25th and 26th of last year. no arrests to report from that time. we'll see what happens to be the. -- tonight. dave evan, channel 7. >> that jacket is crunchy. darla miles made friends with the 20,000 or so people that live in haslet.

>> reporter: that's right. they're showing me lots of love . i saw two guys walk to a gas station right down the street because they had they were just -- they didn't feel like driving in this weather. they decided to walk to the gas station and walk back. they have done a good job of keeping up with the roads. it's been tireless work for these now drivers but they have been working to keep up with the snowfall and the wind that's been going all day. we shot some video of highway 36 in we've only see a few people come out, people who have to go to work or getting gasoline for their snow blowers, getting oil and supplies. there's two events

we have the blizzard-like condition, the constant snowfall all day long. the snow drifts higher in some people's yard. at 6:00 it's high tide and that's what the oem and the sheriff is concerned about right now. >> we're monitoring the high tide. union beach is under a voluntary evacuation order gist for the high tide between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. we will continue to monitor the situation there. those in the low lying areas, they know who they are in those houses, are encouraged to remove themselves. i always say and i watched it through the course of the storm, if you're moving your car to high ground, your vehicle to high ground you should move yourself to high ground. >> reporter: so, again, union beach which we're about a mile

evacuation alert as well as seasid in barnabet a mandatory evacuation order. you will see that tide coming tonight. tomorrow willing a biggest issue with the melting so you'll have the flooding from tomorrow and then the melting from tomorrow causing additional conditions here. we will keep a close eye on everything that's going on. back to you. >> the end is near , darla. thank you. hang in there. thank you so much.

we're take you back to monmouth county but to point pleasant with a.j. ross has been all day. how are conditions there? >> reporter: the snow right now is more ice type of piercing right now. the wind has really

speaking for a minute so you can hear. it is just ripping along the coastline right now violently tossing the waves and beach line here behind me. the sheer course of these wind gusts have been amazing to watch. now we're coming on the evening tide, which we'll be watching closely. i spoke with governor chris christie earlier this afternoon. he mentioned speaking with the mayors in this area as well as throughout the state talking about the weather conditions today. he also mentioned that the high tide earlier this morning was actually worse than what they expect to have in here in about an hour or so. they are closely monitoring the restrictions all day. they believe that flooding may actually not be as big a factor as expected. >> so far from both the national weather service and our emergency management folks what we're hearing is we have

of it for flooding. we'll have a high tide around 7:30 but it's supposed to be less than this morning so we feel good about where we are at right now. >> reporter: the definitely more than 50 miles per hour. they are just really fierce here along the shoreline. we're going to be watching closely as this tide rolls in here. we've been watching the water here creep up closer and closer to the shore. the sand dunes for now holding up as well as we can hope for. we'll certainly be bringing you updates throughout the evening. for now in point pleasant, a.j. ross, channel 7, eyewitness news. >> the picture there tells the story. point pleasant is ocean county issue not monmouth county. sdmrsz those ice pellets can be painful.

shore of long island. stacey sager is in long beach this evening where she's been. the last time we saw you, stacey, you were on top of your own personal mountain. >> reporter: absolutely, we were. excuse us. sorry. a little company out here. they're not heeding the travel ban. as we said we're out here in west park avenue and long beach. that's what i was standing on before, the snow drifts from the snowplows. there's been tons of snowplows out here. in fact, there's really less snow than i thought there would be here in long beach. the wind is really the problem. of course they're concerned about the tide on the north side of the barrier island on the bay side, reynolds channel creeping up this way. we will check on that. we'll also be checking on whether motorists are heeding the travel ban on the l.i.e later this evening. if you stick with us we'll show you what those

it picks up is very strong. we took pictures a short time ago that we want to show you some more pictures we took. you can see the plows that were out and about here in long beach. people are out on the street. very few motorists i would say. mostly pedestrians, people out walking, walking their dogs, just out for a quick walk and then they're coming right back inside. people are trying to be extra safe out here. there's been 67 accidents that nassau county police attended to throughout the afternoon. it's not a great day. there's a lot of spin outs, accidents. the lirr still shut down and long islanders are listening to the warnings. not as many power outages as expected. only a few thousand. we're going to keep you updated on the situation throughout the evening. for now i'm stacey sager, channel 7, eyewitness news.

day today could fill an entire newscast. >> every time. >> good point of not too many power outages out there. >> i think that was one of the biggest fears, this heavy wet snow. i know that new jersey had been able to reduce even the number of power outages it had in half. one of the hazards of all of this heavy snow, roof collapses. we've seen some in some areas. this in fact we're told is in mount vernon. this is in westchester county. it happened at the ice hutch skating rink. the roof collapsed, not surprisingly under the weight of the snow. the good thing is no injuries were reported in connection with this collapse. all right. we want to hand it back out to lucy yang in prospect heights with someone we all know very well, senator chuck schumer. he's not in washington, he's here in new york. take it away. are you there? >> reporter: okay

know who you're going to meet in brooklyn. you tell me you're off the dinner. >> i am off to dinner. we live a few blocks that way. our daughter lives a mile down . we're walking to get some turkey chilly. >> reporter: tempting you, it's better be an awesome pot. >> she learned from her mother. she's a great cook. i love walking out in the cold snow. it's great. we do it every snowstorm. there's already brooklynites that are tough. >> reporter: your values are amazing. >> here we are with new york values. where's ted cruz. you have people going in the park with their dog, with their snow shoes. nothing stops us. >> reporter: talk about the travel ban and the treacherous driving. >> it's treacherous. we saw an ambulance that near ly got stuck with big tires. people should stay off the roads unless there's a dire emergency. this is tough.

of new york's snowstorms since i was a little boy in the 50s. stay home. >> reporter: or use your legs. >> our walk. it's a great walk. if you have a daughter who is making turkey chille. >> reporter: that sounds good. >> come on. she cooks a lot. >> reporter: thank you so much for joining us. have a good night. stay safe and be careful out there. >> reporter: you just never know who you will meet on a wintery night in brooklyn. i'm lucy yang for channel 7, eyewitness news. >> lucy, thank you so much. the senator don't it so we'll do it for him, the lovely lacey between them, senator schumer's wife, former d.o.t commissioner for new york. just one of the great new yorkers.

break here. as we leave you we want to show you some of the wonderful photos that viewers have been sending us all day. really you're on the -- you're that extra man on the bench for us giving us a look at what this storm has brought to new york city and the surrounding areas.

this storm has managed to keep things interesting even before it got into the area. >> yeah. >> it's doing something that you're surprised to see. >> we track it a week ago and it's in the pacific. it's in its second act and it's leaving the scene. it's moving out to sea. there's one nasty band and it's sitting right over new york city. it's like this one was custom built for new york city. i know we're getting 30 inches over parts of new jersey but we're going to close in on that number in new york city. let's go check out what is a blinding snowstorm continuing over the george washington bridge. we're at 27, northeast wind gusts at 32.

what we're noticing is this one band which continues to hold its momentum is still sitting over new york city. jeff smith is out in it. we keep looking at our tool that shows the heavy snow bands and going crazy. back to you. can you hear me out this there? jeff? >> jeff, are you there, buddy? >> they're working on it. this is the tool he's going to use. see all the grays, that's some of the diminishing intensity so it's happening in the hudson valley, parts of island and down through monmouth and ocean city. not over new york city. it went to the pink and then the reds came back. we start tacking on that. let's estimate that we're closing in on 22 inches of snow. we could start pushing 2 feet or more. jeff is outside. this is what that band look s like. jeff. >> reporter: yeah, it's really incredible. during the past hour the snow flakes have gotten

they're big dangerous snow flakes. that means they are being produced way up in the atmosphere. the visibility has gone down, the wind gusts have gotten more intense. right now i can confidently say that these are as bad as conditions as we've seen during the entire storm. like you were saying it's amazing. it's like the exiting act of a storm and it does not want to leave the new york city area. >> thank you a lot, jeff. we're going to get towards that 2 foot mark in new york city. you can see the 30 inches in northern new jersey, the big cut off north of i-84. this is madison in norris county, 22 inches. blaretown 21. now fairfield about 11 inches. high tide times right now as we move

so moderate flooding, especially in the jersey shore. look at the back edge. it's toying with us and then quickly moves out. i hope after we see you after the basketball game we see our final flakes leaving the area. still snow can last another 6, 7 hours on the eastern end of long island. still the heavy snow band continues right over new york city. the intensity does diminish this evening but still a couple hours away from that. tomorrow the sun returns, the melting begins. thank goodness. it's going to be a long clean up. then we're mild into early next week. we got a ways to go. back to you. >> all right , lee. thank you, sir. very quickly before we wrap up at 6:30 let's go out to kimberly richardson in yonkers. one final wrap up. kimberly. >> reporter: this is keith . he's been out here shovelling. tell folks what you do for a living. where you work. >> i work at share

a home less shelter. >> reporter: what has it been there like today? this is a tough time for you guys. >> it's been a rough time for the clients. it's been coled -- could out -- cold out. >> reporter: new faces? >> some. >> reporter: thank you very much. that's here in yonkers. a lot of stuck car, a lot of folks kind of struggling to get around. keith is out here. we met some fabulous people here . obvious we'll be out here all night and have much more for you later on eyewitness news. i'm gong to toss it back to you guy ins the -- guys in the studio. >> thank you. that just about wraps it up for us. we have one minute left. i don't want to forget about connecticut. we can point out to you that there's been -- they pointed out earlier, 11 inches of snow in fairfield. most of connecticut as you look

a picture of a stuck car in prospect heights. connecticut got 4 to 6 inches. of course a blizzard warning remaining in effect for all the good folks in connecticut. >> stay off the roads. watch it on tvpgs. you television -- it happens it was. this car is -- watch it on tv. >> stay with eyewitness news for continuing coverage of the blizzard of 2016.

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