Great Plains Deadly Snowfall Halting Traffic
December 20, 2011
A large snowstorm rolled into the Great Plains Monday, dropping heavy snow and bringing with it high winds. The storm has made roadways icy and has put many people’s holiday travel plans in jeopardy.
Two were killed in Colorado when a vehicle left an icy highway. At least one storm-related death is being reported in Texas. From New Mexico to the panhandle of Texas and northern regions of Kansas, blizzard-like weather has road workers on high alert and travelers exiting early to find cover from the storm. Snow fell at one and one half inches per hour in northern Oklahoma where many residents have already decided (or have been forced) to miss work Tuesday due to extreme low visibility and hazardous drifting snow.
A portion of I-24 was closed in New Mexico north of Santa Fe.State Police there report that they have received a very high number of distress calls from motorists stuck on back roads. People in Clayton, NM say that they do not recall such a massive snow storm there since the mid 1970s when cows had to be air-lifted via helicopters and the National Guard was summoned to help.
Authorities in Texas have reported that nearly 100 people have been rescued from their vehicles by the National Guard as shelters were being opened to provided those stranded with a place to ride out the nasty weather. Many people living in the Great Plains states who were planning on doing long-distance traveling by car have been forced to delay their holiday plans. The pre-winter storm has put a halt to any long distance traveling – at least for early this week as highways and rural roads in the region are a mess.
The deadly snowstorm that struck the nation’s heartland is moving eastward. The mid-Mississippi Valley is expected to be hit with areas of rain, freezing rain and snow as well as with possible thunderstorms. Blizzard warnings are forecasting snow accumulations of up to eighteen inches in the Plains and in regions further east as the massive storm barrels its way across the country.
In Texas, flights were canceled Monday afternoon at the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport Monday although things are expected to get back to normal by Tuesday morning. To the north in Oklahoma, the roads and highways were completely packed with snow or covered in ice, making them extremely hazardous. Officials there were warning people to stay at home and to only venture out in the case of “extreme emergency” due to the declining roadway conditions.
