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.
