the capital area's two airports shut down, thousands of flights cancelled. in williamsburg, virginia, a 50 car pile-up on interstate 64 sent seven people to the hospital with minor injuries and shut down the interstate for hours. in central pennsylvania, one person was killed after two large pile-ups closed interstate 80. and in the big apple, 2,000 spreaders and plows tackled more than a foot of snow. in new york, major government offices remained opened but barely functioned. local and tourists tried to take it in stride. >> just go slowly. >> i'm from florida. i'm drawn to shorts anyway. >> reporter: back in the nation's capital, under howling winds and chest-high snow drifts, commuters were few and far between. not everyone though missed work. >> i'm going to keep slogging down this hill up here. then we have a bunch of uphills to maybe make it to the metro three miles from here. >> reporter: cnn's tom foreman, now front runner for employee of the month.