Chicago blizzard 2011 closes Lake Shore Drive HD

[26Deacon]

oh yeah i remember this shit. glad i was nice & warm at home sipping on a bottle of miscotto.

[godistheway123]

LOL sucks for them. i was at home safe. my bus driver chose not to use lake shore drive so i was safe

[val78PS3]

lot of snow!!!!! GO BULLS!!!!!!!!!

[NaplesSmartGirl]

I think I see some of my Naples real estate clients :)

[mindycrane]

Amazing that so many people were more concerned about getting their picture taken in front of those stranded cars, rather than worry or check on the people in the cars stranded below. I was there, in the south suburbs at the time...& had heard on the news that many drivers could not even get out of their cars - trapped in the bitter cold for many hours...and could've used some help from those gapers.

[MrItalian50]

100s of stranded cars, 100s of idiot drivers.

[tumak1966]

go white sox 2012!!!!!!!

[i3igpete]

this is why we will all be screwed when the zombies rise.

[turfguy87]

awesome.

[JaysonThomas]

Take a picture it'll last longer...Of the people who thought they could make it home.

[MsIvargas]

i still remember dis, it felt like it was yesterday :)))

[warmsquirrelturd]

500,000 stranded cars...2 snowplows...gotta love IDOT!

[foxraceing27]

man i made alot of money that day when that happen in IL

[mkcc2short]

I work as a pizza delivery driver in the far nw suburbs and was working this night from 4-10 p.m. No one was on the roads not even snow plows. Most miserable heartattack worthy night ever. To say the least my car was acting as a snow plow and I drive a little Olds Alero. Most deliveries were taking 30 min's in drive time even within McHenry (where I work).

[JaysonThomas]

@mkcc2short Why the hell were u trying to deliver pizzas in a blizzard? Ur owner was THAT desperate for money to put your life at risk?

[MYM45ONTUBE]

I have this storm on time lapse video! Pretty cool watching it snow so much

[meteovas]

This is snow baby....I love it.,...wish soon snow here so so muchhh.,.

[MsABYBY]

Esto si fue feo , estabamos cubiertos de nieve y Por dias se paro toda la ciudad

[Chumpster1981]

Oh god people! there is no , who got hit the worst.. Gimme a break! Lake county and Cook and all the counties had warnings for everyone saying no one was to be driving unless an emergency and so on.. Who cares! Stop with your pitty shit.. I dont sit here and say OMG i fealt that quake two years ago in my house. I mean seriously Shut up and just lets hope this winter is fine. .. Really, ( you liars out there )

[goodbeerfinder100]

how the fuck did people get their cars back?

[Almaru24]

@goodbeerfinder100 The cars were taken to three nearby tow lots in the city and people affected were directed to call 311 (non-emergency, city services) for pick up info.

[wolf2r1]

@goodbeerfinder100 They obviosly went back to them. wtf?

[grizzstud22]

looks like the perfect storm

[MAYB1325]

FIRST DAY OF THIS BLIZZARD MY SCHOOL CLOSED AND RIGHT ON MY BIRTHDAY! AND IT ENDED UP STAYING CLOSED FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK:) GREAT FUKIN WINTER!

[chicity78]

It took me 2 hrs to get home from work. I work 6 miles from tha crib...fuckin bananas

[xMeerkats]

i lived there for 7 years. i remember this, it was INSANE

[RedFileProductions]

wOw that is crazy Britain were I live came to a stand still with just 9 inchs of snow I would hate to know what would happen to us if we got that much, although we hardly ever have snow so.

[kjchicago1]

@RedFileProductions It was worse than this in 1967 and 1979 as well! I remember those 2 blizzards('67 when I was a kid & '79 when I was in high school)

[g9yx1s]

Thanks for posting . I grew up in upstate NYork, with lake effect snow. But I have never seen anything like what happened there on Lakeshore Drive in Chicago. the combination of wind and snow were like Arctic conditions.

[starguard]

Chicago is predicted to have an even WORSE winter in 2012

[GS300pusha]

I had to go to work that night(Feb 1) - it was horrible!

[XXChicagoGuy]

This is what happens when we don't take significant weather like this seriously. We're used to big snows in Chicago and they usually don't slow us down, but the proper precautions were not taken and resulted in the loss of life in our area.

[veronicatoussaint]

snowmeo

[veronicatoussaint]

WHAT OR WHY?

[npx190]

Is this going to happen again, before December?

[ZombieS1ayer95]

ahhhh that was a fun day XD but now that I think about it I should have went ice skating on the lake... smh

[uncisforlosers24]

ok i live a suburb of chicago this storm was fudgin crazy

[zorskel98]

@uncisforlosers24 ya same bro i live in la grange park and it was so much fun!!!!

[VideoFreakAustinT]

How did they clear the cars/road? You cant use a big plow because its nonstop cars?

[flykiddrevert]

lol i remeber this day it was crazy

[imtrofeo]

I'm from Florida, first time I ever seen snow was moving to TN and going through that blizzard of 1987 and Knoxville basically came to a stop for a few days. I moved back to Florida. Now I'm looking for a sweater when it gets below 70.

[richig761]

@imtrofeo LOL, Wow. I can't imagine that. I'm completely the opposite. I hate it, when it gets above 75-80. Then again, that's about the average day time high in Chicago during summer.

[86yukon]

Did u see the dog he was having fun in the snow how long were people trapped in their cars and did Chicago charge people to get them gas and unstuck from the snow

[istewiegriffin6858]

Ugh I live in barrington Illinois and I had to shovel my extremely long driveway, a day I will never ever forget

[FlameAlchemist252]

I live in the suburbs in Zion IL, we got the most snow in the area im 6ft tall and when i woke up after being stuck at a friends house for the night i stepped outside and i fell and got buried 2 ft over my head i had to shovel my way through the roads to get hom to come home and relize that the snow drift literally covered the house top to bottom one huge ass snow drift

[waddlestv1]

I will never forget the blizzard

[O18134]

A day I'll never forget.

[princess482]

WOW YOU ARE A SOLDIER FOR GOING OUT..

I STAYED HOME FOR THREE DAYS AFTER THE BLIZZARD HIT US..

WOW ,

[gjsterp]

Hadn't seen anything like this on the news...

Thanks for posting.

[90Blakey]

History makeing Blizzard....wow. schools cancelled for 2-3 days, highways and roadways shut down, alot of stores closed the following days, Snow lighting, winds up to 67mphs, wow. that night was wild.

[Godzie1]

@90Blakey This still was not as bad as the snowstorm I survived back in 67 in Chicago, 32 feet of snow came on us & I was about in 4th grade & was off school for a happy go lucky 2 whole weeks sledding at Horner Park! ;)

[90Blakey]

@Godzie1 lol wow

[iamgodz927]

I live in the hardest hit place and got three feet of snow and school was closed for three days for my kids not two

[BoyChibi]

wow they remodel'd the bridge nice, I hevent gone down town in about 5 months

[bandclinens]

100's of cars? Well atleast we got school off!

[GoBlackhawk88]

I got 2 feet of snow and 2 snow days! Best blizzard!

[bouybouy95]

wha, c'est la première fois que je voit au-temps de véhicules au même endroit, abandonnées en pleine rue, a cause de la neige.

[andreo]

Reminds me of the blizzard that shut down I-80 in NW Indiana about 12 years or so ago. I remember heading back home after finding out the business I worked for was closed for the day. I had to travel an extra 7 miles or so because I didn't want to try to exit I-80 using a ramp that went up to street level (everyone was getting stuck on those exits). I finally found one that had a down sloping exit and used the streets to get home. Cars were stuck for days on I-80.

[cristivlasiu]

looks like a scene from that old movie ''The day after tomorrow'' :P

[mk2980]

Great video! Something to definitely remember for years and years to come.

[101southsideboy]

AT least Mayor Daley doesn't have to worry about losing his job like another mayor (bilzard of '79)

[dmesz311]

looks like a seen from movie

[titoub2008]

hey i saw my car in this video

[suncruiser00]

thats why u never go more then 3/4 tank of fuel in the winter.. all i can say is thats a tow trucks DREAM!!!!!!

[LtSidrys]

@suncruiser00 why not?

[tcdmblover]

ONLY we true Chicagoans would be up on the bridge taping this...smh...

[CDTbossy]

TO the left at 0:53 is a brand new Ford Explorer! I didn't even know they had began selling them yet!

[nabs307]

@CDTbossy...I guess since the Ford explorers are built in Chicago we had them first.

[equinoxranch]

Idiots

[xXBolisinXx]

no sea pendejo a caído nieve a granel

[4wardone]

Thanks for video..what happend to the people did EMS help them that night or what..I live in indianapolis and been on lake shore dr many times,,never thought something like that would happen...

[EKruca]

just WOW !!!

[espi242]

After reviewing this video, I've come to the conclusion, that the Bears still suck!

[Timmydoop]

Great

[gotitans999]

HAARP?

[MistofRain752]

This has been the best video of all the cars on Lakeshore! Thanks for posting

[livelifexplore]

wow, that is crazy!!

thanks for posting!

[Vistamister]

Unbelievable! I am awestruck. I lived in Chicago for 18 years and recall the wind and some heavy snowstorms but nothing like this! Thanks for reporting and describing.

[TheKingCire]

hey if you don't mind asking what kind of camera do you have i like the way it looks thanks a lot!!

[brecht727]

@TheKingCire i was using my iphone 4

[tonewheel]

@brecht727 Hardly a poor decision. Notice that the southbound lanes are clear...and remained clear through the evening. Northbound became problematic when 3 accidents occurred within 15 minutes between Fullerton and Belmont, one involving a jack-knifed bus that blocked 3 lanes. Traffic came to a standstill and vehicles couldn't exit the drive.

[brecht727]

@tonewheel right, but if they had closed down the drive before the storm really picked up, then maybe 3 accidents wouldn't have occurred in 15 minutes. Clearly the weather had something to do with those accidents, so maybe conditions weren't best for driving on lake shore drive. its hard to anticipate an accident happening, but its not like we didn't know the weather was going to get bad fast. its a tough call to make, but i still think closing it earlier wouldve been ok

[cooper8318]

@brecht727 lakeshore is a hard road to close down!

[Chicago10281]

@brecht727 Remind you of 1967? Or 1979? Or 1999?

[kjchicago1]

@brecht727 All I can say is.........Holy Cow! I drove home late from work one night in this mess! This is worse than the 1967 & 1979 blizzards put together!

[AccessDenied55]

@brecht727 Your kidding?

[ChakaGon]

So many of us died that day... never forget.

[kurtespo]

Our Cable and internet was out in Lemont during the blizzard so we resorted to radio and i heard about this on the Radio now to see it is just great thanks

[kurtespo]

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

[1967mustanggta]

Stay in your car! For What? This?

At some point they knew it was hopeless and they maintained this position.

[cmfarms05]

Lake Shore Drive should have been shut down way sooner! Poor decisions lead to this!

[brecht727]

@cmfarms05 i agree, there is no way they should've let the drive stay open. especially since there was a threat of big waves on lake michigan. luckily waves didn't break onto the road or else it could have been much worse. the city did do a great job handling the aftermath though. the drive was re-opened this morning

[djsky89]

@brecht727 they were going to shut it down sooner, but a bus slipped caused a traffic jam, you think the city wanted this to happen?

[mbyr31]

@cmfarms05 It wouldn't have mattered. Idiots always find a way to get onto untreated roads. They think they are GOD and then bitch and complain that the city should have done something different. Up by us, they closed the major roads, yet idiots continued trying to drive on them, only to get stuck. Yup, you guessed it, they bitched about the efforts the county highway department did.

[IamStevenVargas]

That is some GREAT video capture. I would love for you to consider submitting this video into my Youtube documentary currently going on. Just check out my channel and the blizzard video will tell you all you need to know. fyi I haven't had anyone submit this good of footage of lakeshore drive during the day yet. I feel it might make the cut.

[okot99]

This video is better. Plus it explains that the cars were stuck there because of three accidents that put the traffic at a standstill. That is the story. And the camera work was alot better. Good thing you don't make a living as a camera man.

[IamStevenVargas]

@okot99 Which video are you talking about?

[snowrocket]

I saw exactly that same shot from the bridge on Fox News Channel today. Apparently, many people were rescued by snowmobiles working in conjuction with first responders. The news was saying it would be days before that highway was cleared of cars and snow.

[brecht727]

@snowrocket The city has had crews working all day and night. I can see parts of lake shore drive from my apartment and even at midnight tonight I could see flashing lights from plows and tow trucks removing cars. They said they could get it done overnight. I doubt that, but hopefully it'll be clear soon. And I heard the first responders were handing out drinks and snacks to the stranded motorists. Eventually the fire department and police were able to rescue everyone. unbelievable situation

[snowrocket]

@brecht727 Thanks for the informative follow up. I saw a History Channel special a few years ago about blizzards. They showed that that exact same thing happened around '77-'78 in Chicago; cars abandoned all over the highway. I just hope no one died in that mess you showed.

[brecht727]

@snowrocket there were some blizzard related deaths, but none directly associated with the mess on Lake Shore Drive. And I had my doubts on how quick they would clean the mess, but the Drive was reopened this morning! I honestly thought it would take multiple days, not just 1. so good job to the workers and the city for cleaning the mess

[gasdorf]

enjoy those tow fees...city will

[brecht727]

@gasdorf according to local news, the city said they wont charge anyone for the towing. but i dont think thats what people are most concerned about. it'll be a struggle to find their cars and hope they werent damaged. the city really should've closed the road earlier in the day

[gasdorf]

finally proof of global warming 

[jmms429]

Wow

[israelandersonvideo]

Al Gore must have been planning a conference there. Always happens.

[smartbandwidth]

Unbelievable! Thanks so much! Great reporting!

[IamStevenVargas]

@smartbandwidth I agree.