carol ann tracy took these pictures inside the bus where she and her mother spent the night. >> we were stuck for nine hours due to the snow. we just couldn't move anywhere. it was a bit, you know disastrous. >> reporter: we ran into jaco collins, who had returned to reclaim his pickup. he was prepared to wait for hours. >> i'll be all right. i'm good. chocolate covered raisins and miles davis. >> reporter: and after nine hours of trying to drive home reed frye finally just walked. >> everybody was, you know just trying to stay huddle in in their car. a number of people ran out of gas. so, it was not really fathat fun. >> they just shut down northbound lanes on lake shore drive. >> reporter: so, why did lake shore drive become such a nightmare? >> the number of multiple car accidents occurred on a northbound drive, some of them were very close succession. this caused a large number of motorists and cta buses to become stuck behind and around these accidents. >> reporter: and the weather, bad everywhere in the city was particularly so along lake michigan. >> with the lake there, you have

carol ann tracy and her mother spent the night in this city bus. >> it was a bit disastrous.re for nine hours or so. >> reporter: others chronicled their ordeals on youtube. >> it's been ten hours since i've been stuck out here. literally the snow is right at the top of the doors. >> reporter: for 18 hours, gale-force winds topping 60 miles an hour smacked the city and anyone who ventured outside. and chicago faces days of digging out. this is going to be an enormous job to get these roads moving again. chris bury, abc news, along lake shore drive in chicago. >>> the giant storm also left many cities dangerously coated in ice. and that meant lights out in places like harrisburg, pennsylvania, where the power lines just couldn't handle the weight of the snow. hundreds of thousands were left without power at the height of the storm. and to make matters even worse, temperatures have now plunged to record lows. >>> and as you can imagine, it's been a very unusual week for hospitals from the great plains to new england because of all the rough weather out there. doctors at a phila