An ice storm paralyzed the Wednesday morning commute in much of the Hudson Valley and stranded motorists for hours on the Saw Mill Parkway.

A multivehicle accident brought traffic to a complete halt on the southbound side of the parkway

Bill, a driver from New Hampshire, was among the hundreds of drivers caught in the backup. He pulled his SUV on to the grass on the side of the road to stretch his legs.

"We've been sitting here since 6:40 this morning. But I left Pawling, New York, this morning. We're making our way from New Hampshire down to Florida. And the accidents, we passed 15 accidents on our way down from Pawling to here," he said.

News 12 was told an accident on the southbound Saw Mill Parkway was the reason for that long backup.

The treacherous conditions caused multiple spinouts and accidents. Emergency vehicles and tow trucks had a hard time getting through the backup.

Southbound traffic started to move again after the nearly two-hour standstill.