New York City Department Of Education – A severe winter storm that closed much of the southeastern coast Wednesday brewed dumping wet, heavy snow across the Northeast and save his fist the most brutal of New England, where hundreds car and spun on schools and businesses close.

Armies of plows and salt trucks hit the streets across the region to stem the chaos during the shuttle on Wednesday morning. In Connecticut, where nearly 2 feet of snow had fallen and that yet to come, state police responded to about 500 spin-offs, fender benders and disabled vehicles. Four minor injuries were reported.

“Troopers are a disabled vehicle to another,” said Lt. J. Paul Vance, a spokesman for the department.

In New York, where officials have strongly criticized the slow response to a snowstorm on Dec. 26, the morning commute was a promising start with the permission of plows streets blocked for days by the last storm. Nearly 9 inches fell in Central Park, well away from the storm of 20 inches last month dumped on the city.

New England, however, seems to be caught off guard by the ferocity of the storm. Governor Dannel P. Malloy, the first state through what threatened to be his first disaster, ordered a double change of government soldiers on the highways.

Heavy snow and gusty closed hundreds of schools and businesses in Maine and New Hampshire southward.

“You can not see across the street. The wind and snow blowing about 40 mph on the side,” said Artie Perrin, CEO of Kelly Roast Beef in Revere, north of Boston.

Ridgefield, Connecticut, had 22 inches of snow at 8 pm, and Danbury is 18 inches. In Bridgeport, the largest city in the state, a state of emergency was declared and the snow only city employees and a board of education essential to the operations of storm were expected to work. In Maine, an inch of snow per hour was snowplows had trouble keeping up.

All flights in and out of Logan Airport in Boston have been delayed. New York LaGuardia Airport canceled 675 flights, Kennedy Airport and Newark Liberty 300 440. Philadelphia Airport has reported about 20 flights canceled dozens of overseas arrivals and 100 canceled, but the spokeswoman Victoria Lupica expected things to be back in full by noon.

Officials warned motorists to stay on the road from Carolina to Maine. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick noted the reports of swarming and disoriented motorists heading in the wrong direction on highways.

In New Jersey, relatively few problems were reported Wednesday and plows were in force. The locals have been keeping an eye on the governor Chris Christie, who left for family vacation Disney World in Orlando, Fla., just before the Christmas storm hit the Northeast, although his lieutenant governor has also been out of state.

Christie, who was heavily criticized for the trip, said that he and the lieutenant governor would not be out of state at the same time again and has even joked last week about “shovel myself” people to dig out of snow if necessary.

The storm was the third to hit New York in less than three weeks after the Dec. 26 blizzard paralysis and a 2-inch to dust last week.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said crew’s work even harder after criticism of how the city handled the storm, when hundreds of streets were not plowed, subway riders were stranded and medical calls unanswered because ambulances could not move in the snowy streets.

In Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood, an area paralyzed by the storm last month, all major and minor streets were plowed by Wednesday morning. Some cars have slipped on the slush.

“It will be difficult during rush hour difficult,” Bloomberg said Tuesday. “The storm is expected to be at times heavier than some before rush hour, and there is no way that our city plows can access all of the 6,000 streets in a couple of hours.”

The city was ready on Wednesday with more than 300 salt spreaders, 1,700 plows and 200 front-end loaders, backhoes and Bobcats. Health workers were on 12-hour shifts.

Seth Andrews, a spokesman for the Office of the City Emergency Management, said about half past three no serious problems were reported, although some vehicles were immobilized. He said the teams were in full force to handle any emergency.

Snow and ice had closed much of the South for two days before the storm have joined forces with another from the Midwest and swept north.

Road crews had no winter gear, salt and sand to clear roads, and millions of people just stayed home. Mail delivery has been limited, and many schools and other closed institutions. The storm was blamed for 11 deaths and numerous other injuries.

Some schools remained closed Wednesday in western North Carolina, as well as schools of Charlotte, the largest city in the state. Workers reported clearing highways of progress but warned many secondary roads remain dangerous because of ice. Winter was a notice in effect until noon in the northwestern South Carolina that up to 9 inches of slush on the roads refreeze.

Despite the drawbacks, Southerners face the next day with patience and a measure of wonder.

Lynn Marentette, a school psychologist who lives south of Charlotte, NC, stayed home after classes were canceled. She spent Tuesday catching up with friends on Facebook and children who watch a sled down a hill nearby – and ignored the pile of paperwork on his desk.

“It’s a great, great day out there,” she said. “I have documents and things that I really do put out, but how often do you have a chance to enjoy the snow? ”

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Frank Eltman in Carle Place, NY; Kiley Armstrong, Sara Kugler Frazier, Chris Hawley, Karen Matthews and Ula Ilnytzky in New York, Beth DeFalco in Trenton, New Jersey, Dorie Turner and Don Schanche Errin Haines in Atlanta; Bill Poovey in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, NC