Passengers stranded for over 6 hours without heat on NYC subway train

Snow drifts and ice stalled a New York City subway train this morning, trapping passengers without heat, food, or water for more than six hours--even as the train was mere feet away from a subway platform. They were just some of the countless people left stranded by a powerful East Coast blizzard that shut down roads, rail lines, and major airports.

The subway train stalled near Kennedy Airport in Queens around 1 am Monday, leaving passengers frozen, tired, and angry. "People are sleeping, people are crying," one rider, John Hammelton, told a local TV station during the ordeal. "We're stuck in a train with no heat, and they're not doing anything, or getting any kind of definitive answers on how long we're going to be on here. It's not good."

The train was finally towed to a nearby station just before 8am. You can watch a video report on the incident below:

Meanwhile, thousands of travelers were stranded overnight at the New York City area's three airports, Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Newark, after more than 1400 flights were cancelled. Blankets and cots were provided in some cases, but some passengers who had already checked their bags were not allowed to retrieve them, and so had no extra clothing or toiletries.

[Related: Pennsylvania governor slams NFL over postponed game]

One flight from Kennedy to Tel Aviv, Israel boarded at 5:30 pm yesterday, only to sit on the tarmac for over nine hours. Passengers wound up back in the terminal around 3 am Monday morning. The flight was ultimately rescheduled for 7 pm tonight.

Jason Cochran, who had been waiting overnight at Kennedy after his scheduled 6 pm flight to London didn't take off, wrote on Twitter that the airport McDonald's had run out of food. "When people start to get hungry you're going to see tempers flare," he told the AP.

Things were little better on the roads. In Monmouth County, N.J., two passengers buses were stuck after stranded cars on ramps blocked the path of snow plows, a state police spokesman told NBC's "The Today Show." State troopers brought food and water to diabetics on the buses. By 7 am, one of the buses was freed, and the other was expected to be out soon, the spokesman said.

[Photos:More travel misery from the storm]

Amtrak canceled trains between New York and Boston, and service was suspended on the Metro North and Long Island Rail Road regional networks.

Even within New York City, travel has been difficult. The entire 'B' line on the subway was shut down thanks to a lack of available transit workers, according to the New York Times. And in one of numerous such incidents, a roof collapsed near 4th Avenue in Brooklyn, closing a major thoroughfare and causing delays.

The storm appears to have claimed at least one life. A driver slammed into a utility pole in Mount Olive Township, N.J., yesterday evening, police there told the Times.

States of emergency were declared in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Maine and Massachusetts. The deepest snow -- 31 inches -- was recorded in Elizabeth, N.J. Winds reached 68 miles per hour in Nassau County, N.Y.

Other popular stories on Yahoo!:
• The five biggest political gaffes of 2010
• President Obama calls Eagles owner to congratulate him on Vick signing
• WikiLeaks founder gets seven-figure book deal