Plains Digging Out From Storm

Nov. 29, 2005

(CBS/AP) Major highways are gradually reopening in the Plains, but it could be days before some people get their electricity restored.

The region is digging out from the first blizzard of the season, with highways closed by blowing, drifting snow and thousands of people without electricity as temperatures hit the low teens.

Utility officials estimate 50,000 customers are without power across eastern South Dakota, and the governor says the lights might not be back on for a few days.

The storm was heading toward the Great Lakes on Tuesday after dumping snow as far south as the Texas Panhandle. As much as 20 inches of snow fell at Kennebec, S.D., while Chamberlain, S.D., was choked by drifts up to 8 feet high.

As ferocious as the storm was, it was not a record breaker – not in terms of the amount of snow it dropped or even the strength of the 70-mph winds, reports CBS News correspondent Lee Cowan. But what did surprise forecasters was the width of this storm – it stretched nearly the entire length of the country.

Five deaths were blamed on slippery roads in Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. A sixth person was killed when a tornado hurled a car in Arkansas.

Travelers trying to get home after Thanksgiving were stranded across the Plains.

"A lot of restaurants stayed open all night to give people a warm place to stay," reports Matt Mauro of CBS affiliate KWCH-TV from Russell, Kansas.

"Few people can remember a blizzard fierce enough to shut down so many Interstate highways in so many states — all at once," reports Cowan.

"They're pretty bad, they're really vicious. The ice is really thick with fresh snow on top. You can barely see. The visibility is horrible," said stranded motorist Nikki Wagner.

The storm closed parts of I-70 in Kansas, I-80 in Nebraska, I-90 in South Dakota and I-94 in Minnesota, among others.

There is good news for travelers, however. About 200 miles of Interstate 80 reopened in central Nebraska. And about a 100-mile stretch of I-94 reopened across eastern North Dakota.

More than 400 miles of eastbound Interstate 70 was closed, from Denver to Salina, Kan., but reopened Tuesday morning. Westbound lanes had remained open in most areas.

KWCH's Mauro reports that the looks on the faces of truckers and others, as they left Russell, Kansas, for their homes "were just ecstatic ... a lot of them spent two nights here, or two nights in their cars and trucks, and they're just happy to get home."

(CBS/AP) 
But another storm, which dumped 6 to 10 inches of snow in the California Sierra, could be moving in to the Plains, warns CBS News Meteorologist George Cullen.

"The snow will be spreading across the Rockies by this evening and probably another round of some snow, it may not be as heavy as what we just saw, but at least a few more inches of snow across the Great Plains (is likely)," Cullen forecast. "That wouldn't be until Wednesday night into Thursday."

The winds neared 70 miles an hour in some places, creating snow drifts 6 feet high. And normally hearty upper Midwesterners were taken aback by the force of the first real blizzard of the year.

"It's really hard to even push open the door against the wind and then you get the flurries in your face and it stings your face all over," said gas station owner Matthew Hendrickson in Wall, S.D.

"This is probably the worst storm I've ever encountered," Terri Gosney said by telephone from a truck stop alongside I-90 in Mitchell, S.D., as she waited to resume her trip home to Minong, Wis. "I'm pretty hearty. I can drive in the winter, you know, being from Wisconsin."

Electricity wasn't expected to be restored for some areas until at least Tuesday, South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds said. Some residents, like Meyer, were using backup generators to heat frigid, darkened homes.

"For a lot of people in eastern South Dakota, this is going to be one of those days where it's going to be very, very, cold before the heat gets turned back on," Rounds said.

Some North Dakota communities remained in the dark. In Fairmount, firefighters were offering residents rides to the community center, which has a backup generator. But the blackout shut down the town's water pumps.

"Prior to the storm, there was freezing rain that coated the power lines. Those came down in the high winds," reports Don Haney of CBS radio affiliate KFGO in Fargo, N.D. "Power companies (say) they can't believe the damage they're seeing."

And it could be awhile before the snow goes away, says Cullen.

"It will remain windy and very cold, so you're not going to see any of that cold melt," he said.