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Blizzard shuts down Denver
21/12/2006 20:57 - (SA)
Denver - Stranded holiday travellers lined up at ticket counters at snowbound Denver International Airport on Thursday, hoping to get out of town amid a powerful snowstorm that paralysed Colorado's biggest cities with up to 60cm of snow.
Officials had little encouragement to offer. Airport spokesperson Steve Snyder said on Thursday the runways would likely remain closed until noon on Friday because airport crews could not keep up with the falling snow.
United Airlines cancelled more than 670 inbound flights, plus 160 that had been scheduled leave before noon on Thursday. Frontier Airlines cancelled up to 190 flights.
Outside, the city's streets were empty.
About 4 700 travellers hunkered down overnight after all flights were cancelled - more than 1 000 of them on Wednesday and on Thursday, Snyder said.
More than 76cm of snow fell in the mountains and up to 60cm fell in the Denver metro area on Wednesday and early on Thursday.
Colorado governor Bill Owens declared a state of emergency and activated the national guard, which assisted dozens of motorists on the highways around Denver and delivered diapers, formula and bottled water to the airport.
Police in one Denver suburb rescued nearly 100 people who had been stranded in cars along the main highway between Denver and Boulder.
- AP
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