Garden State digs out from icy storm

EWING, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey residents on Saturday were digging themselves out from a surprisingly strong storm that authorities said had caused at least six traffic deaths.

"It was a monster storm," said Kris Kolluri, who heads the state Department of Transportation.

The storm created treacherous travel conditions across the state. Just days after balmy temperatures covered the area, the wintry mix of snow and sleet caused hundreds of accidents and spinouts and led to airport delays and cancellations.

State police said a man was killed early Saturday morning when his car overturned on Interstate 287 in Bergen County.

Witnesses told state police that Stephen R. Day, of Montville, was passing another car, lost control and went off the roadway. Day, who was not wearing his seat belt and had a suspended license, was ejected from the driver's side window.

Two men and one woman were killed Friday night when a passenger van carrying 13 migrant workers collided with a box truck on a slick highway in Gloucester County, according to state police. The van's driver lost control of the vehicle and went into oncoming traffic, Jones said.

Several people in the van and a passenger in the box truck were ejected. The driver of the van, Juan Calderon, 23, and a female passenger, Reyna Vasquez, 39, both of Bridgeton, were killed in the accident. The third victim, a man, who was also riding in the van hasn't been identified yet, Jones said.

Thirteen other people were injured in the crash, but their injuries weren't thought to be life-threatening.

Earlier Friday, one person was killed on Interstate 80 in Warren County when a Jeep Cherokee veered off the road and smashed into a tree, state police said. And a 79-year-old woman was killed in a head-on crash on an icy road in Franklin Township, Gloucester County, Friday afternoon.

State police received more that 2,000 calls regarding motorists between 6 a.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday, according Jones.

"No matter how many troopers you put on the road you're not going to be able to put up with those kinds of numbers," Jones said.

Continental Airlines canceled all flights to and from Newark Liberty International Airport through noon, except for one flight, the company said in a news release. The company did not return a call seeking comment.

JetBlue spokeswoman Jenny Dervin said none of her company's flights had been canceled in Newark on Saturday. Dervin said the company canceled some flights out of JFK in New York, but that Newark flights would only see delays of 20 to 30 minutes.

"We're working with the airports to make sure the planes are ready to go and not too significantly delayed," she said.

A combination of snow and sleet measured nearly a foot in Sussex County, while the central part of the state got 3 to 5 inches, said Dean Iovino, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.

Burlington and Camden counties in the southern part of the state received 3 to 5 inches while the southernmost portions saw just rain, Iovino said.

In Ewing Saturday, Mark Epstein, was out shoveling the walkway around his house shortly Saturday.

"I was waiting for it to warm up, but it doesn't seem to have made much of a difference," said Epstein, who was wearing water resistant boots to protect his feet. "I was hoping last week that we'd had the last of it. It's very inconvenient."

In Trenton, Laverne Woodall said she didn't think the storm would be as messy as it was.

"I thought it would be maybe more rain," the 42-year-old said as she tackled ice with the help from her nephews, Charles, 9, and Jordan, 4, Smith.

But she knew not to get used to the warmer temperatures from earlier in the week.

"I knew it was iffy," she said. "It could be back and forth."