You don't get a lot of rioting in a few feet of unplowed snow - especially in Chicago with that wind off the lake.
And a snow storm shutting down traffic for a few days hardly compares to what is happening in Japan.
How many thousands were killed in the snow storm? How many were without shelter and food and water? How long did the 'disaster' go on? Did they storm piled on storm? Were they told to 'stay in your homes' (raditaion) when they no longer HAD homes?
You can do better than that.
I already cited the numerous tornadoes - then there was the flood a few years back where most of downtown was evacuated.