NEW YORK - The snow and freezing rain storm that paralyzed the US midsection turned its eye toward the Northeast Wednesday, creating more havoc for snow-weary residents. The storm has been blamed for two deaths, one in Oklahoma and the other in Michigan. While blizzard conditions endured Tuesday by Oklahoma City and Chicago wont be repeated in the Northeast, weather forecasters said snow totals would reach or exceed the 12-inch mark. The storm impacted more than 100 million people from the southern Plains to the Northeast, turning highways into ice rinks, grounding thousands of flights, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power, and forcing the cancellation of innumerable school and community events. In Chicago, stranded motorists and bus riders had to be rescued after being stuck for hours along busy Lake Shore Drive at the height of the blizzard Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune reported. Some were still being rescued in the early morning hours. New York posted a winter storm warning Wednesday, with forecasters predicting a mix of snow, sleet and ice. In Washington, non-emergency federal employees were allowed to work from home or take unscheduled leave because roads were icy from freezing rain. Reuters adds: the major US airlines cancelled more than 5,000 flights on Wednesday for a second straight day as a monster winter storm slammed large parts of the nation and paralyzed air travel to and from major cities. The storm blasted the Northeast and the Midwest, where the blizzard was on track to dump the most snow in more than 40 years. Flightaware.com, a website that tracks flights, estimated total US cancellations of 5,280 as of early Wednesday. United Airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc and American Airlines all suspended operations at Chicago OHare International Airport, the second-busiest airport in the United States. Were totally out of Chicago today, 920 cancellations in and out, said American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith. Operations in New York (are) ramping up somewhat this afternoon, Smith said. Atlanta-based Delta said its operations were cancelled at both OHare and Midway airports in Chicago, and added it expects to return to normal operations in Chicago on Thursday. The airline said it cancelled more than 1,175 flights system wide. American, a unit of AMR Corp, reported 1,587 cancellations for the day. US Airways Group cancelled 531 flights for the day with its operations in Philadelphia, New York and Boston the hardest-hit. A spokeswoman for United, which merged last year with Continental Airlines, did not have a total number cancellations, but the carrier scrapped almost 1,500 flights on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines cited 850 cancellations on Wednesday tied to storms.