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gage a challenge.
• JetBlue Airways stopped all scheduled flights to and from New York and Boston. American Airlines said temperatures are so cold at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport that fuel and de-icing liquids were actually frozen. United Airlines said its fuel is pumping slower than normal in Chicago.
• Passengers reported long lines at airports as they tried to rebook on other flights. United Airlines had so many phone calls that it was suggesting travelers use its website to rebook.
• In recent years, airlines have cut the number of flights to ensure that most of their planes depart full. That's been great for their bottom line but leaves very few empty seats to rebook stranded travelers. Sometimes, it takes days to get everybody where they should be.
• ___
• . GROUND TRAVEL DISRUPTED, TOO
• Planes weren't the only form of mass transportation disrupted. There also were widespread delays and cancellations in ground transportation -- including Amtrak, buses and commuter trains.
• Officials with Chicago's commuter rail, Metra, said there were multiple accidents, including one in which 14 passengers reported injuries -- and six were taken to the hospital with minor injuries -- after a train hit a "bumping post" at a downtown station.
• Weather-related engine problems forced an Amtrak train carrying 200 passengers to stop for more than 8 ½ hours in southwestern Michigan before arriving early Monday morning in Chicago.
• Drivers didn't fare much better. A state emergency official said nearly 400 vehicles -- including six semis -- were stuck for several hours overnight Sunday along a snowy stretch of interstate in southern Illinois. Among them: The Southern Illinois University men's basketball team, which spent the night on a church floor in central Illinois after their bus got stuck in a snowdrift on Interstate 57.
• ___
• . STORM LEAVES THOUSANDS IN THE DARK
• Widespread power outages were being blamed on the storm, including in Indiana, where crews worked late Monday to restore services for more than 30,000 customers. Utility officials cautioned some people could be in the cold and dark until Thursday.
• "Due to the extreme conditions, damage is significant," Indianapolis Power & Light spokeswoman Katie Bunton said.

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