With snowfall reaching up to 40 inches in parts of New York and Connecticut, the problem for most people who were driving home last night and got stuck in deep ditches was trying to find a way to dig their cars out of the snow and get home.

Local network affiliates in New York and Connecticut blanketed the news with stories of cars needing to be shoveled out of streets. Some people were even stranded overnight in cars whose battery died, leaving them to fend off the storm, without heat.

In areas that got hit the worst, like the Smith Haven Mall in Suffolk County, NY and Milford, CT., along route 1, next to the Westfield Mall, pictures of people coming together to clear snow and help their fellow citizens was a nice sight to see. 

It took some time for firefighters to arrive on the scene, but when they did, aiding in transporting those suffering from the frigid weather and continuing to dig cars out of the snow were the top priorities.

However, images of kids on sleds in Central Park or local streets across the tri-state area and New England states was a welcomed distraction.

"I have to shovel the cars, but my kids get to play," said on Suffolk County resident with a smile, as he watched his two sons run to a snow top to sled down, get up, run back up the hill and sled down all over again.

On the flip side, the strength of the storm, both in wind and snowfall amounts, knocked out the power. The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) has reported over 10,000 people without electricity and they don't have a clear estimate as to when it would be restore.

In central New Jersey, where heavy amounts of freezing rain fell, Gov. Chris Christie urged those on the shoreline to stay in doors due to the possibility of floods, and in an area that is still recovering from Hurricane Sandy, a flood would have been disastrous.

Fortunately, no heavey damage has been reported thus far.