On every block, the air is still dark with smoke and the streets are still clogged with trees, but my fiancée, Roxana, and I had just endured a night of sleepless terror.

Whipped up by strong winds, the fires have destroyed homes, clogged roads and forced more than 30,000 people to flee.

It affects vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street and covers areas that are typically clogged with traffic, including Times Square, the theater district, Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea and SoHo.

But as the shots stopped falling and the paint clogged up, USC ultimately could only hang on for so long in the second half, losing to Michigan, 85-74.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic has clogged the roads leading to Damascus as refugees in neighboring countries stream home after years of forced displacement.