reporter: it started with a light powder and coating the northeast. and then it came roaring in. a powerful nor easter that pounded the northeast. all the way up to maine and far inland. in the boston area, traffic ground almost to a halt on many major highways. and everywhere roads were littered with accidents and spinouts. a pickup truck flipped on to its side in maine. a semi beached on a highway median in this photo tweeted by the massachusetts state police. and in massachusetts apolice car a victim of a fender-bender. emergency parking in effect, schools closed, government workers sent home early. it was a tale of two cities and two mayors. boston s tom menino, four days from leaving office after 20 years. i guess mother nature wanted to give me one more gift. the snowstorm. reporter: and new york city s
northeast. and then it came roaring in. a powerful nor easter that pounded the northeast. all the way up to maine and far inland. in the boston area, traffic ground almost to a halt on many major highways. and everywhere roads were littered with accidents and spinouts. a pickup truck flipped on to its side in maine. a semi beached on a highway median in this photo tweeted by the massachusetts state police. and in massachusetts, a police car a victim of a fender-bender. emergency parking in effect, schools closed, government workers sent home early. it was a tale of two cities and two mayors. boston s tom menino, four days from leaving office after 20 years. i guess mother nature wanted to give me one more gift. the snowstorm. reporter: and new york city s bill deblasio in office for just his second day. it would have been nice to have a nice, calm first day, but we have snow on our mind. we are focused like a laser. reporter: also on the mind of new york officials, avoiding a r
prayers that has been given. this is a time of difficulty. reporter: the church bus was heading east on interstate 40 when the left front tire blew. police say the bus veered across a highway median directly into westbound traffic, hitting an suv, then slamming into a tractor trailer, which burst into flames. the busy interstate came to a grinding halt and was soon closed in both directions. we ll look at the braking system and make sure that the bus was functioning properly. we ll also look to see if there s any possible, any possible other mechanical failures that could have led to this incident. reporter: at least eight people are dead, including six seniors on the bus. returning from a gathering in tennessee. 14 others were rushed to the university of tennessee medical center. this is a very active investigation. it is going to be ongoing for several days. our thoughts and prayers do go out to their families and to those who are injured. reporter: and of note, the governm
a car ends up in a canal after the driver loses control and veers across oncoming traffic it is our top story as we go across america. washington. a woman s diabetes may have caused her to lose control of her car and plummet into an irrigation canal. officials saying they believed low blood pressure related to her disease may have played a role in the crash. the car careening through highway median and across oncoming traffic ending up half submerged in the recently filled canal. rescue workers managing to free the driver. they broke the window and drivers side made a hole so they could tie the rope there. the woman not seriously hurt in that plunge. massachusetts. a car chief taunting police and getting away with it only to later flip his car on the side of the road. the thief stole a porch from a
strengthen much maybe 60 to 65 mile-per-hour storm. this isn t one of those bad wind or storm surge events. just a lot of rain. inland flooding is going to be the big story from this. guys? like a circuit system. looks like silly string. a whole pile. keep on looking at those models. we will give you updates as the morning continues. meanwhile progress is being made in the fight against raging wildfire in southern california. residents of about howfl half of the 1500 evacuated homes are being allowed to return home. in addition interstate 15, the main highway between l.a. and las vegas is reopening. the fire started in the highway median. at least two mobile homes were destroyed. two other buildings damaged. sarah palin greeted with very warm welcomes upon arriving in iowa. [chanting] run, sarah, run. she made a quick cameo.