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Blizzard shuts down Denver and major highways
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 21 - 12 - 2006

The Denver area was motionless for a second
day Thursday. City streets were empty, nothing but stranded
travelers moved at the airport, long stretches of highway
were impassable, even the mail could not get through after
a powerful blizzard dumped 2 feet (60 centimeters) of snow
on the region, AP reported.
Some 4,700 people hunkered down with her overnight at
Denver International Airport after all flights there were
canceled. The runways were not likely to reopen until
Thursday night, airport spokesman Steve Snyder said.
More than 30 inches (76 centimeters) of snow fell in the
mountains and up to 2 feet (60 centimeters) fell in the
Denver metro area Wednesday and early Thursday.
A snowstorm also dumped up to 18 inches (46 centimeters)
on parts of New Mexico, glazing roads with ice and forcing
some schools to close Wednesday.
Denver, Colorado Springs and other cities along the Rocky
Mountain Front Range were virtual ghost towns after workers
slipped and slid their way home on Wednesday and stayed
there.
The wind-whipped snow was finally expected to taper off in
Colorado on Thursday afternoon. To the east, warmer
temperatures meant even Chicago was only forecast to get
heavy rain as the storm moved through.
In Colorado's eastern half, though, few travelers were
going anywhere Thursday morning. The Colorado Springs
airport reopened and some airlines were flying, but getting
there was nearly impossible.
Bus and light rail service in a six-county region around
Denver was suspended. The State Patrol reported a rash of
collisions but no fatalities.
Colorado Gov. 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.
Long stretches of Interstates 70 and 25, the main
east-west and north-south routes through the Mountain West,
were closed. Interstate 76 was closed from Denver to
Nebraska.
«They pulled everyone off the highway,» said Leon
Medina, manager of a truck stop on Interstate 25 in
Walsenburg, about 130 miles (210 kilometers) south of
Denver. «Cars are all around the building. Trucks are all
over, trucks and cars pulled into ditches.»
At least 270 people took refuge at seven American Red
Cross shelters in the Denver area and the number was
expected to rise as motorists arrived by the busload early
Thursday, said Robert Thompson, spokesman for the Mile High
chapter. Shelters also opened in Fort Collins and Colorado
Springs.
Weather Service program manager Byron Louis said it was
the most powerful storm to hit Colorado since March 2003,
when a massive blizzard dumped up to 11 feet (3.3 meters)
of snow in the mountains over several days and was blamed
for at least six deaths in Colorado and Wyoming.
Major malls closed early Wednesday. Mail service was
canceled in the eastern half of the state because roads
were impassable for mail carriers getting to work and for
trucks delivering mail four days before Christmas.
Public transit service, which was suspended Wednesday, was
not expected to resume until late Thursday at the earliest.


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