Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Snowstorm piles up problems in the Plains Date: Wed, 25 Nov 92 16:20:05 EST Message-ID: Lines: 76 \SE A;NATION \SS (WS) \HD Snowstorm piles up problems in the Plains \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS Two hundred vehicles were involved in an early-morning pileup on snow-covered Interstate 40 in Amarillo, Texas, as a powerful snowstorm blew out of the Rockies and pummeled the southern Plains yesterday. There were no reports of deaths in the pileup, police said, but two motorists were killed in weather-related traffic accidents elsewhere in the Texas panhandle. And the storm was blamed for the death of an 11-year-old girl in a Colorado sledding accident. Since Saturday, violent weather has been responsible for the deaths of 25 persons in the South and Midwest. I-40 was closed for 175 miles in Texas between Oklahoma and New Mexico. The Postal Service suspended residential deliveries, and flights were delayed at Amarillo International Airport. By midmorning, at least 9 inches of snow had fallen at Hereford, and a 50-mile stretch of U.S. 60 from Hereford to Clovis, N.M., was closed because of zero visibility. In the Oklahoma panhandle, the National Weather Service warned motorists of the "life-threatening situation if your car or truck becomes stranded" because of the combination of drifting snow and subzero wind chill readings. "It's kind of hard to tell just how much snow we have had, the wind is blowing so hard," said Sheriff Arnold Peoples of Texas County, Okla. "I would venture to say we've had 5 to 6 inches. We have lots of vehicles off in ditches. We're working the highways, trying to get everybody up and into town." Near-blizzard conditions were expected to spread eastward as the storm moved out of the panhandle, Oklahoma forecasters said. Colorado was busy digging out of the storm, which left up to a foot of snow Monday. Many schools remained closed. At Denver's Stapleton International Airport, the average flight delay was a half-hour to 1 1/2 hours, down from 1 1/2 to two hours Monday. The northern edge of the storm carried heavy snow and freezing drizzle that closed schools in western Nebraska. In Cheyenne, Wyo., state employees returned to work, but schools were closed for the second straight day. In the South, state and federal damage-assessment teams spread through the region to determine whether federal assistance will be needed while another storm system pounded the region. Tornado-force winds early yesterday destroyed at least one trailer home in Baldwin County on Alabama's Gulf Coast and downed power lines and trees. In south Georgia, two tornadoes touched down in Worth County. One struck the parking lot of the county's high school and passed over some portable classrooms. No injuries were reported in Alabama or Georgia. Metropolitan Atlanta got a scare yesterday morning when a funnel cloud was spotted in Cobb County. Tornado-warning sirens sounded, but the severe weather left the area without causing serious damage. In Brandon, Miss., 1 1/2 inches of rain overnight aggravated problems for storm-weary residents of Rankin County, where 70 homes were demolished or damaged Saturday night. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM