Traffic was backed up four miles on the Pennsylvania Turnpike west of Philadelphia thanks to a 35-vehicle pileup. In the very same county, 30 cars slipped and slid into one another on the state's I-78, halting traffic for five miles.
While both roads were reopened by evening, the threat of continued power outrages and resulting frigid homes continued Friday as thousands of utility workers from the Great Plains to Eastern Canada fought to restore power knocked out by the fierce, wide-ranging storm.
Winter weather caused an unbelievable pileup on the Pennsylvania Turnpike outside Reading on Thursday. No deaths were reported despite the shocking jam but traffic was halted for four miles
Pennsylvania Turnpike officials say the 35 vehicle pile up, blocked westbound lanes and caused a 4-mile backup about 50 miles west of Philadelphia, between the Morgantown and Reading exits.
Turnpike spokeswoman Renee Colborn says the highway reopened after 5 p.m. and about 10 people were taken to hospitals.
Meanwhile, state police say 25 to 30 vehicles piled up on Interstate 78 and shut down about 5 miles of westbound lanes, also in Berks County.
The lanes reopened after 3 p.m. Trooper David Beohm says 25 people were taken to hospitals and 44 were treated at the scene.
No deaths were reported. However, there have been deaths due to weather this holiday season
The storm has been blamed for 17 deaths in the U.S. and 10 in Canada. Five people apparently died from carbon monoxide poisoning tied to using generators.
Michigan bore the brunt of the storm as nearly 600,000 homes and businesses lost power, and as of Friday morning, about 64,000 customers remained in the dark. Maine reported almost 12,000 outages and in eastern Canada, nearly 62,000 still hadn't had their power restored, including 33,000 in Toronto.
It could have been worse, said Paul Graham, a lineman supervisor from Massachusetts whose crew was helping out in Gardiner, Maine.
'If it was a little more ice, poles would have been broken,' Graham said. 'Things would be on the ground. ... If there was another quarter of an inch or a half-inch of ice, people would've been out for a long, long, long time. But I'm sure no one is thinking they're lucky, right?'
Many families affected by the outages sought refuge with relatives or hunkered down with generator-powered space heaters and fireplaces to keep warm. Utility officials say it could be days before power is restored to everyone.
The linemen face a dangerous and physical task, below-freezing temperatures aside. Ice can weigh down power lines so much that they break, or tree branches can fall and take the lines with them. So, the linemen must clear some debris, if needed, and then shimmy up slick utility poles to restring lines using belts and spiked boots.
'You have to take your time. You have to watch what you're doing,' said Carone, who was working in Columbiaville on Thursday. 'It's not a good feeling, climbing up an icy pole.'
© APKaren Gibbs walks through a labyrinth of icy broken trees and downed power lines to her home on Maplehurst Drive in Belgrade, Maine on Thursday. Nearly a million were without power in the U.S. and Canada thanks to a holiday ice storm
About 200,000 will not have power restored until the weekend after heavy snowfall hampered repair efforts.
Eight were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning after using generators to heat their homes after an ice storm in Maine and Michigan cut power.
The cuts in supply over the festive period led many to turn to generators to keep their families warm, but with deadly consequence.
In Maine, where more than 24,500 have been without power since Sunday, a 50-year-old man died as he refilled his generator in an enclosed outhouse.
'He might as well had gone in there and placed a masked over his nose and started to breathe pure carbon monoxide, because that's basically what he did,' Mike Grant, of Maine Emergency Management Agency, told ABC News.
'The family checked on him 15 minutes later and he was already dead, so it doesn't take very long,' he added.
In Michigan a family-of-four were overcome with poisonous fumes from their generator, which was running in their garage on Christmas Eve.
They were taken to hospital, where the 58-year-old father, who has not been named, died.
'People feel that there is protective barrier within the garage, but the fact is that the CO will work its way into the home,' Larry Jerue, of Clinton County Sheriff's office, said.
About 400 deaths each year are caused by accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, and in many cases the deaths could have been avoided, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
'Just opening a window or an open door might not be enough because even then [carbon monoxide] could build up in a nook or cranny of the room,' Mr Grant said.
Warnings about the use of generators came as a further 3in to 7in of snow was predicted in parts of Maine.
Despite round-the-clock repair work the extra snowfall and ice was weighing down power lines, and there was further risk from trees falling on cables.
'The system is pretty compromised out there. We expect we will have more outages,' Susan Faloon, of Bangor Hydro Electric in Maine, told CBS News.
'There was some concern expressed over the last couple of days about that storm coming because obviously we still have lot of stuff weighing down trees and lines.'
In Michigan, where more snow is forecast, more than 100,000 customers were not expected to regain power until Saturday.
At the height of the ice storm that hit on Sunday, half a million homes and businesses lost power.
In Islesboro - a community of 600, where John Travolta has a home - a state ferry was commandeered to transport utility crews to to the Maine island for repair work.
Conditions were better for those living around the east of Lake Ontario, where up to 17in of wind-whipped lake effect snow was expected to fall tomorrow, as nearly all of the 50,000 customers left without power have been reconnected.
Road conditions were treacherous in several states, including Pennsylvania where ten people were taken to hospital on Thursday after a 35-vehicle pile up on a snowy section of the turnpike.
At least 27 deaths have been attributed to the ice storm so far this week.
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