Frigid water rushing straight through town. Virginia, the heavy snow caving in roofs. Buildings and barns collapsed. The misery factor so high this morning, as some struggle to dig out. Others, ready to dive in. Oh, my gosh. I was not tempted to do that yesterday. Not even slightly. But she was. Shes braver than all of us at this table. Good morning, everyone. Were coming to you from a crippled new york city, literally shut down after one of if not the biggest snowfalls ever. And new york by no means the only target of this blizzard. This is a live look at the flooded jersey shore. Remember, this is just three years after Superstorm Sandy. More troubles for that region. Check out this video dump trucks ready to pitch in, ready to move in. Washington, d. C. , along with philadelphia as well, all paralyzed this morning. Look at this. This is timelapsed imagery out of virginia. It was coming down in some places at a clip of two inches an hour. It is amazing to watch. It looks benign. But we cant forget that the storm is beautiful and aweinspiring, but it was also dangerous. At least 17 dead across 8 states from this system and more than 80,000 customers are without power from the carolinas all of the way to new york. The blizzard creating travel havoc as well. More than 11,000 flights cancelled since friday. FullTeam Coverage this morning of the blizzard of 2016. We kick it off with rob in new york city. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning, paula. This was a generational storm, one you will tell your kids and grandkids about. Its multifaceted. And the breadth of it, you were impacted anywhere on the east coast. But new york city bore the brunt. This morning, a deadly winter storm for the record books. The city that never sleeps looking like a desolate, frozen tundra. I was at a loss. I mean, i was in complete panic mode. Reporter new york city caught right in the bullseye of a blizzard of epic proportions. The storm affecting millions of people in the nations largest city. Burying it underneath 26 inches of snow. At some points, falling at a rate of four inches an hour. Violent winds making for whiteout conditions. Vehicles spinning, skidding and sliding. Travel is now banned. Unless it is truly an emergency, you should not be on the roads. A citywide ban on travel crippling new yorkers for nearly 17 hours. The roads although empty nearly impassable. Police cars, even ambulances, no match for this monster storm. I saw it stuck. I did what i could to get it out. Reporter the governor even getting out of his car to help a stranded motorist on the highway. Buses are shut down, subways only operating in the areas below ground. Lay low, dont travel if you dont need to. A lot of cleanup to do. And its still not going to be entirely safe. Reporter manhattan enlisting a convoy of nearly 1,800 snowplows to help dig this city out. Give us time. Everybody, stay in the house, and we should be able to do our job. Reporter theyre doing a pretty good job of that. We are at the cornerstone of the upper west side. The roadways at least are starting to clear out. We broke a record for the 24hour snow total in a storm. But for a storm total were 0. 1 away from an alltime record. Just an incredible amount of snow falling here in new york. Quite honestly, much more than we forecast. Lets say that we nailed the forecast down south and d. C. But in this area, new york city, this one overachieved, to say the least. The atmosphere can always surprise us. No question about that. The roads are remarkably clear given the amount of snow we received. Rob, great job out there. Well come back to you in just a minute. We want to move on now to the nations capital. The blizzard blasting the beltway, roadways and major monuments covered. Dangerous snow, so deep in washington, even fire trucks and ambulances needed help. And Abcs David Kerley joining us right now. Good morning, david. Reporter good morning. This is digout day. Look at this army of trucks here in washington, with this historic amount of snow they have to move and remove today. Overnight, the plows didnt stop working as the snowfall came to an end. The great digout well under way. The highways, the side streets this was one for the record books. Think of it as a hurricane but with snow and cold weather. Reporter an historic storm. In washington, more than 17 inches according to the weather service, making it the fourth largest storm in history. For baltimore, a new alltime record, more than 29 inches. And now, the chore of clearing all that snow. Reopening cities. Here on capitol hill, you can see that the trucks are already coming. In fact, theyre lining up, filled with snow and then the loaders are taking all this snow and moving it over here, creating little snow hills, which will be snow mountains. Because theres so much to remove. Crews that spent saturday clearing sidewalks. You shoveled this sidewalk five, six times . Around ten times. Reporter ten times . Yeah. Reporter will clear them again today. In virginia, the governor met with the emergency crews working around the clock, they expect to be removing snow well into the week. The governor telling residents to give those crews a chance. This is the critical part, a lot of snow and people are going to feel, i have to get outside. Were fine with you going outside. But just dont go out in your cars. Reporter buildings buckled under the weight of the snow. The historic theater in virginia. A barn in maryland. Where 12 horses were pinned until rescued. And last night in downingtown, pennsylvania, a 64foot hole as five feet of snow collapses through the roof. Along with all the work on highways, airports are scrambling to clear runways and taxiways. Flights not expected to return to washington until tomorrow. The washington airport shut down today. Up and down the east coast, a similar story as they try to bring the planes back. And these trucks have to clear the roads to the airports. Already, 600 flights have been cancelled tomorrow. Its going to take a couple of days to get everything running again. Paula . They have done already a great job. And the real work begins today. David, thank you. People on the jersey shore, fearing a repeat of hurricane sandy. Suffering a one, two, three punch. The blizzard, snow, powerful winds and surging sea water left entire towns flooded. Our Team Coverage continues with linzie janis. In ocean city for us this morning. Hi, linzie. Reporter good morning, paula, the misery is not over yet for the jersey shore. Here in ocean city, where rushing floodwaters were several feet deep, carrying those icebergs down the street. You can see the water has receded quite a bit. But high tide is on its way. Its going to rise again very quickly. This morning, the jersey shore bracing for another round of flooding. Out at sea, the massive noreaster ripping up waves more than 25 feet high. Our new york station, wabc, was there as the storms high tide rushed in, submerging entire communities in up eight feet of water. Lot of obstacles. Along the roadway. Reporter the towns hardest hit by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, bearing the brunt once again. Stay off the roads, if you need anything, give us a call. Reporter chunks of ice floating down this street in ocean city. Seawater flooding coastal highways. Stranding hundreds of residents who had to wait for emergency crews to evacuate them. These streets are still flooded, and its low tide. Look at the water just coming in to this home, and let me show you what happened at high side when the water was waist high, it carried that picnic table into the center of the street. The car in atlantic city, almost completely submerged. This plow trying to tackle the snow, stuck in the floodwaters. Winds gusting up to 72 miles per hour, downing power lines, leaving more than 60,000 homes and businesses across new jersey in the dark. This empty ferris wheel spinning by the winds power alone. This is the worst storm to hit the jersey shore since Superstorm Sandy. For many areas it wasnt near as bad. But to the south, cape may, new jersey, they had record tide levels, over 9 feet, that was worse than sandy. The current coming in there, the high tide coming in once again. Sandy was such a disaster for that area. Were thinking of them this morning. Linzie, thank you. We want to move to the third major American City paralyzed this morning, philadelphia, blanketed under almost 22 1 2 inches of snow. Eva pilgrim is there. Good morning to you. Reporter dan, the clock is ticking for hundreds of drivers stuck here on the pennsylvania turnpike. Imagine being stuck here along the interstate, for two nights in the dangerous, freezing cold, Emergency Responders are hopeful todays improved conditions will help get traffic moving. Dangerous roads, leaving drivers this morning stranded. This is horrible. We have been stuck in the truck for 13 1 2 hours. Reporter 500 vehicles waking up for the second morning still stuck on a western pennsylvania highway. 86 miles of the pennsylvania turnpike closed. This bus now a makeshift home to Duquesne University mens basketball team, stranded since friday, heading home from a game at george mason. Its been up to 16 hours in the same spot. We dont know when if well be moving again. Reporter in the meantime, travelers getting out of their cars, gathering together for a catholic mass. Reporter this group of High Schoolers trying to get back to kentucky after visiting d. C. For the march for life, knowing the storms were coming, they left early, hoping to beat the blizzard. Then we got stopped last night around 7 30, and now were stuck. Reporter they have been sitting here for more than 30 hours. Were moving reporter the state police, National Guard and firefighters working urgently trying to get these drivers on the move. We havent had any food since yesterday. Reporter in philadelphia, snowcovered roads made a busy day for roadside assistance. Roads were looking good, as soon as they plowed them, they started filling back up again. Reporter cars crashing into each other, even flipping over on mostly deserted roads. Crews working around the clock trying to clear the way. One after another truck stuck. Its just nonstop. Doesnt seem like were getting anywhere, to be honest. Reporter any time you head out on the road during the winter, make sure you have an emergency kit a blanket, sleeping bags, water, snacks. Really come in handy, something to clean your car off with, a flashlight and just in case a shovel, to be able to dig your car out. This will make having to wait for help that much easier. Eva, thank you. Ron adds he travels with a st. Bernard in his trunk. With a little bit of brandy. Yeah. With a little bit of food. Okay. Thanks, again, eva. We should point out that theres a lighter side to this blizzard. Check out this video we spotted. Going viral right now. Go. Oh, wow. Oh, my god. Cold, huh . She acts like shes surprised. Runs in the house. Any of you tempted to go outside at all . No. Even with layers, i didnt want it to hit any part of my skin. Look at this. We got these two guys who do it, too. I agree with you, ron. But they not only dive but they swim. Ron, do you want to race me . No. Thats the West Virginia swimming and diving team. Look at that form, they did it perfect. They did it twice. My favorite moment of the show yesterday when we talked to ron outside. Ron, how are you doing . He said not well at all. You wanted the truth. I always expect truth from you. All right, lets get it back out to rob marciano, the question right now is, when will all this stuff melt . Rob, what can you tell us . Yeah, the answer to that question is easy in spring. If not summer. Hopefully well get a little bit of melting. Today, you can see my breath, the temperature is in the lower 20s. You got to climb over these big banks that these snowplows have piled up. In a city like new york, theres not a lot of space to put it. Its certainly a challenge for the snowplows. All right, lets broaden this out and show you where the jackpots were, so to speak, biggest snow totals. They were down to the south, where they thought theyd be. In and around the d. C. Area, points west. Shepardstown, West Virginia, 40. 5 inches. Round hill, virginia, 36. 3 inches. Somerset, pennsylvania. Allentown, 31. 9 inches. Blowing snow around, at least in the morning. It start to taper off in the afternoon. Still some blowing and drifting this morning, just know that. Wind chills will be brutal. Even with the sun coming up. So, be aware of that. Well start to warm things up tuesday and wednesday. Until then, well be stuck freezing. So, this stuff isnt going anywhere quickly. If you have some sunshine where you are, enjoy it. A high tide happening right now, still some residual coastal flooding. Just not as bad as yesterday. Citys beautiful right after a snowstorm. Its the day or two after that, it gets a little nasty. Take it easy if youre shoveling. Well get through this together. We 2350i7b8 finally get a snowstorm in the east, just didnt want one this big. Dan and paula, back over to you. It looks like our citys finest could use some help getting their vehicles out. Rob, if you can do that. Yeah, okay. That guys going for a jog in this stuff. Amazing. All right, rob, well check in with you in a little bit. Time to talk about something not nearly as predictable as the weather, politics. Just when you thought the president ial race couldnt get more bizarre, surprise. Another billionaire, Michael Bloomberg, is taking steps toward throwing his name in the ring while donald trump finds a controversial way to boast about the loyalty of his supporters. Cecilia vega with the Many Political angles this morning. Reporter paula, what is going on . I think for the first time, its warmer here with less snow in iowa than where you are. You mentioned Michael Bloomberg, people close to him are telling us he has until march to decide whether to enter into the race. Eight days until the caucus. Donald trump, he starts his day by going to church. Just how loyal are Donald Trumps supporters . I could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldnt lose any voters, okay . Its incredible. Reporter this morning the gop frontrunner under fire for yet another controversial comment. I have no intention of shooting anybody in this campaign. If you shot somebody you would probably be convicted of firstdegree felony and sent to prison. Reporter but trump will not be the only billionaire in the race for very long. Abc news confirmed that former new york city mayor Michael Bloomberg is contemplating mounting a thirdparty run. Trump telling George Stephanopoulos last week, hed welcome a bloomberg bid. He would be, i think, take a lot of votes away from hillary. Its going to be hillary. Reporter Hillary Clinton raking in a coveted endorsement from the Des Moines Register and in a blow to the two gop frontrunners, the influential paper endorsed marco rubio. Ted cruz collecting a big endorsement of his own, conservative media personality glenn beck. His word is his bond. Reporter but this morning, it is a younger cruzs personality on full display in this new clip posted on youtube. The teenager talking about his life goals, seems to know exactly what he wants. Take over the world. World domination. Yeah, rule everything. Rich, powerful that sort of stuff. Reporter just a little world domination. Here it is, this is that coveted Des Moines Register endorsement here in iowa. Its not a ringing endorsement. The pap irsaer its not a ringing endorsement. The pap irsae says shes not th perfect candidate. She said yesterday she was happy to have it. Shell take it. All right, cecilia vega, we appreciate it. Lets go to washington and martha raddatz. Martha, good morning. First thing, congratulations on behalf of my comrades on the weekend desk. Our viewers may not know this, but you have just been named as the cohost of abcs this week as your friend and colleague of 15 years, bravo. Well, thank you. Thanks to all of you. Im very proud and very honored to be a part of that show. Excellent. So lets put you to the test then, let me ask you about bloomberg, he has flirted with a president ial run before. How likely do you think he is to actually jump in . What are the major variables here . The billionaire mayor needs two things. The republicans nominate someone like trump or ted cruz. Democrats nominate Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders or a very wounded Hillary Clinton dogged by say emails and questions about her honesty, then bloomberg may jump in, dan. Given that no independents have ever won, he has some liberal positions on things like gun control, what are his chances of winning if he jumps in . Its an uphill battle. Even with the 1 billion hes allegedly willing to spend. Given his wall street ties, its hard to see who he steals more votes from. He would run as a bipartisan problem solver, according to aides. While theres no historical precedent, what does history know about 2016 . Everything about this race has been atypical, to say the least, dan. Yeah, he said hes willing to spend 1 billion reportedly. He does have that going for him. All right, martha, you passed. You did a really good job of that. Good to hear. Well done, and a huge congratulations. Martha has a big show this morning. Shell be going oneonone with democratic candidate Bernie Sanders and also republican jeb bush. Thats later this morning on this week, right here on abc. You passed as well. I did . Yep, flying colors. Were going to keep you, possibly. Coming up on Good Morning America a dangerous prison break. Men accused of Violent Crimes are on the run. Well go inside the allout search to try to find them. Plus, digging deep, the netflix show dominating the national conversation. My trip to the crime scene. For a show that has become a Binge Watching sensation. Watching sensation. Search. Hotel. Trivago. S so we know how to cover almost alanything. Ything, even a stag pool party. party music splashing destruction splashing destruction burke and we covered it, october twentyseventh, 2014. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. B