A massive storm buried much of the central United States in dangerous ice and snow Wednesday, stranding scores of motorists with massive drifts that shut down major roads and defeated plows.
Strong winds created drifts as high as 15 feet (4.6 meters) as the storm dropped as much as four feet of snow (1.2 meters) in some areas, said Pat Slattery, a spokesman for the National Weather Service.
“This has been a really big season opening storm,” Slattery said.
Hundreds of flights were cancelled, schools were closed and the freezing rain that preceded the snow in many places created hazardous road conditions.
Blizzard warnings were issued across the midwest as the storm moved eastward across the country after pounding Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Arizona.
The storm was expected to move across the Great Lakes into Canada, sparing much of the East Coast.
But flash flood warnings were issued for the Mississippi and Tennessee River valleys and midatlantic and southeast states due to heavy rains from the southern part of the system.
Officials told people to stay home if they can, pack an emergency kit of blankets, food and water if they have to drive somewhere, and to avoid rural side roads.
“It may be a while for somebody to find you if you get hung up,” Slattery cautioned.
Stranded motorists were waiting a couple hours to be rescued in Iowa, where the National Guard was called in to help after the state was blanketed with nine to 16 inches (22 to 41 centimeters) of snow.
“We are snowed in. It’s not good,” said Courtney Green, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
“It’s bitterly, bitterly cold. It’s just been gusting all day. When you have the volume of snow and the high winds, there are just huge drifts.”
Snow plows were pulled off the roads for part of Wednesday because visibility was so poor and the storm was so bad that they weren’t making much of a difference, she said.
Even the military Humvees were having trouble, and large truck drivers were also getting stuck in the snow.
A man who was found behind the post office in Yale, Iowa died en route to hospital. He had been there for at least a couple hours, Green said.
Wisconsin declared a state of emergency, shut down government offices and also activated the National Guard after the storm dumped up to 17 inches of snow across the state.
With classes cancelled, meanwhile, students at the University of Madison planned to make the best of the deluge with a massive snowball fight, in their second attempt to beat the world record.
RELATED ARTICLES
- US School Shooting Targeting Christians Thwarted
- Black Teens Execute Girlfriend's White Parents over Coronavirus Social Distancing
- American Nurse Describes Brutal Coronavirus Symptoms: 'Nothing Like I Expected'
- Several migrants accused in beating of New York City police officers arrested in Phoenix
- Nearly 5000 Britons Died Frozen to Death in 2023 Due to High Heating Costs
Loading ...
This snow storm is of course a natural event, afterall its December, but so is Global Warming and Global Cooling. If we look back a million years we would see how rare the current warm spell is, which made human progress possible. We should cherish and maintain this warm spell for as long as possible, for the cooling cycle is just round the corner. I am afraid no amonut of man made warming can avert the coming of the next ice age, just look at the graphs. In ice age people and animals die of hunger. If Antartica defrost, we gain a whole continent. A good trade off for a few islands. However if the land freezes, we loss valuable pasture, and our children will starve, will die.
Copenhagen should be about Global Warming, that is about warming the Globe not cooling it.
I am of course joking, but while CO2 green house warming is a laugh and the truth will ne revealed, Global Pollution is not and we are poisoning ourselves.
fyi – as usual for the Climate Change Deniers, there’s a buttload of inaccuracies and outright lies in this article (and the rest of this god-forsaken intellectual wasteland of a blog). The National Guard of Wisconsin is put on alert for EVERY severe storm. They never actually deployed (as this article implies), and the emergency was cancelled.
As for the “30K scientists” suing Gore – a publicity stunt, not based on credible, peer-reviewed science. Another Fox News fueled piece of nonsense that gained no ground.
To the deniers I say “keep on keeping on” – more dry land for the rest of us.
Holocaust Denial, Zionism Denial and now CLIMATE CHANGE DENIAL!?!? What the heck do you guys take? Are you all on marijuana or something?
Just to point out your stupidity, disinformation and your hate filled comment towards FOX News, this article was a cover from AFP, not from FOX NEWS.
Do you know what AFP is, you fucktard?!?!? Anything you don’t agree with is “That denial and this denial”!?!? You close minded freaks should be locked up and have the key thrown away!
HOW ABOUT A DEBATE on the so called Climate Change? Ohh wait, you close minded freaks don’t like debates, you just like to slander everyone “Denier” of what you think it’s true but it’s not.
This is pure fanaticism just like the Catholic Church was calling people heretics a few centuries ago!!!
At the end of the article, there’s a word that says “Source” but because you fanatic disconnect didn’t even read the whole article, you missed it! If you click on the link, you will end up here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091209/ts_alt_afp/usweatherstorm_20091209221347
Global warming is a scam people! Haven’t you heard of the 30,000 scientists who sued Al Gore for fraud?
And haven’t you heard of the Climate-gate emails that expose the Global Warming to be a fraud?
Alex Jones also fights against these global warming liars! I think this article is a satire, I’m sure the writers here know that the Global Warming is a fraud and a dirty lie!
It’s December! When is it suppose to snow? Global warming is a scam for a small minority of the investor class to cash in on an internationally enforced policy which is based on opinions of which scientific credibility has been called into question.
I agree with JFC. What fucking inferences does a winter storm have relative to global warming. Storms have occurred every winter since the beginning of time!! Read what the scientists say about our world instead of the what journalists say. Their expertise is in flowery words with agendas, not science.
it’s called wintertime, douchebags