I would like to write about one small portion of the snow blizzard that I can report on faithfully.
I live on Lake Shore Drive between North Avenue and Oak Street and saw what happened Tuesday night and Wednesday. There were hundreds of cars headed north going nowhere by 4 or 5 p.m. Tuesday. There was absolutely no room for any rescue vehicles or any emergency vehicles, both of which I did see, to move among those cars at that point. By 10 p.m. there were many abandoned cars with owners wandering around on the road. I did not see the rescue of people in the night. I did observe the removal of cars Wednesday and I was astounded at the effectiveness of that process. There were small tow trucks which quickly pulled one car at a time away from the pack to an angle at the side of the Drive where a larger tow truck could take two at a time up the North Avenue ramp. The snow plow worked with those tow trucks like a dance and removed snow so the cars could be secured and moved.
I could not believe they removed so many cars in the amount of time they took. There were just enough vehicles to work quickly but more would have slowed the work down. That seemed very clear even to me. I am sure it was terrible to be on the Drive for hours but I cannot imagine anything less than praise for that part of the removal of cars which I witnessed. Those workers deserve a hearty compliment and the purpose of this letter is to reach them and thank them for their dedication and skill. I still find it remarkable that the Drive today is free and clear after what I saw just 24 hours before.
— Susie Kiphart, Chicago
