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Nearly 40 Vehicles Involved In Kennedy Pileup

UPDATE: 5:46 p.m.

(CBS) -- A chain reaction crash involving dozens of cars on the Kennedy Expressway forced police to shut down the expressway Sunday morning.

Around 10:38 a.m. Sunday morning, 38 vehicles were involved in a pileup on the inbound Kennedy express lanes between Armitage and North, according to the Chicago Fire Department. 12 people were transported in good condition, including one firefighter, according to CFD. Warming buses were on the scene.

Police say the accidents could be the result of slick roads. Shortly after 1:30 p.m., State Police said local lanes on the inbound Kennedy were open. After 5:30 p.m., the reversibly express lanes reopened. For the latest traffic information, visit cbschicago.com/traffic.

CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports the icy express lanes produced a miserable mess. Jeff Facklis and his daughter were heading to the Blackhawks game.

"Couple of cars in front of us started spinning out and I'm sitting there, just telling her, 'Stop! Stop! Stop!' and she's like, 'I can't! I can't! I can't!'"

Some cars were hit again and again.

"Cars were coming from all directions, and just kept hitting us in the back, in the side, hitting us everywhere," said Gayle Santefort.

Scores of firefighters and IDOT workers responded, helping drivers like Paul Miller and his family over the median wall, out of the cold, into a warming bus for a trip to IDOT Bridgeport operations barn.

Miller, his wife and twin boys were all safe, but their au pair's mother was injured.

"We've checked in on her and she does have a broken leg," Miller said.

State Police arrived to process accident reports, while others are still trying to process what happened.

"You know you see it coming and you really can't do anything about it," said crash victim Kelly Lazar. "Your brakes aren't working and you have to brace yourself for the impact."

The National Weather Service says moderate to heavy lake effect snow that began Sunday morning will continue to come down on downtown Chicago and northeast Illinois through the afternoon.

The NWS forecasts an inch to an inch and a half of snow in areas near Lake Michigan with some isolated areas possibly getting up to two inches.

The Department of Streets and Sanitation says more than 300 snow plows and salt spreaders are out to clear the city's streets. To view the city's plow tracker, click here.

On Saturday in Northwest Indiana, lake-effect snow made driving hazardous and even caused a deadly crash that killed a young girl.

CBS 2's Jeremy Ross reports in Portage, Ind. roads close to the lake were snow covered and single digit temperatures are helping to keep them slick when it comes to travel.

In Elkhart, multiple crashes lined the toll road Saturday. In some spots the blankets of blowing and drifting snow acted more like a blindfold for drivers and visibility at times was down to zero.

In a separate crash outside of South Bend a seven-year-old died in a four car collision.

Indiana State Police say they helped out hundreds of drivers as a result of the bad weather.

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