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Monster storm moves into US
31/12/2006 10:26 - (SA)
Denver - A winter storm stretching nearly from Canada to Mexico rolled out of the Rocky Mountains, sparing Denver another round of heavy snow but trapping drivers farther east in three-metre drifts.
Denver had expected at least 30cm of additional snow through Sunday, but the storm trudged northeast on Saturday from New Mexico into northern Texas. Parts of eastern Colorado still expected up to 60cm, along with high winds.
"It's still a very powerful storm," said meteorologist Jim Kalina of the National Weather Service. Winds exceeding 80km/h produced whiteout conditions.
National Guard troops in tracked vehicles crawled through the blizzard to rescue hundreds of motorists who became stranded in the region's second blizzard during the busy holiday travel season.
"They're telling me it's zero visibility," said Major General Mason Whitney, the state adjutant general. "They'll kind of bump into something and it'll turn out to be a car with people in it."
The Guard and Civil Air Patrol planned to do searches by helicopter early Sunday, weather permitting.
Street crews clearing snow
The storm, which hampered air travel through Denver on Thursday and Friday, spread snow from New Mexico to the Dakotas and generated strong thunderstorms in the lower Mississippi Valley.
Conditions were so bad that some snowplows had to stay off the roads.
In Denver, the sun emerged on Saturday for the first time in several days, helping street crews clearing snow and ice left from the pre-Christmas blizzard. Major carriers at Denver International Airport resumed flying regular schedules after canceling 20% of flights during the storm.
The weather service reported 76cm in the foothills west of Denver, with more than 23cm in the city.
Parts of the Interstate 70 highway from the Rockies to Kansas remained closed Saturday, along with several other major east-west highways. In New Mexico, Interstate 25 from Pueblo to Santa Fe was also closed.
Tornado kills one
Ice and strong winds knocked out power to at least 14 000 people in Kansas, where up to 46cm of snow had fallen by Saturday in some areas. The snow later turned to rain in many areas. Up to a foot fell in southwestern and central Nebraska.
One traffic death was blamed on the storm in Colorado and a tornado killed one person Friday in Texas. The storm also created severe thunderstorms in the South. A possible tornado was reported on Saturday in southern Louisiana.
On Friday, tornadoes generated by the storm in Texas destroyed as many as 50 homes and forced President George W Bush and his wife into an armored vehicle on his Crawford ranch.
Residents of an assisted living centre for military veterans in Texas had little time to react Friday before a tornado struck, killing one person.
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