Colorado digging out
Hurricane-force storm trapped some in shelters, others in vehicles on roadsides
Saundra Glover slumped on a green Red Cross cot at the Douglas County Fairgrounds on Thursday afternoon, an oxygen tank resting by her side, waiting for her chance to go home.
Glover and her son, Billy Hawk, had made the trek to Denver from their home in southwest Kansas to visit her heart doctor — a trip they had taken dozens of times over the past 14 years.
On their way back Wednesday to a motel in Colorado Springs, Glover and Hawk joined the legions of drivers trapped on Interstate 25 in a dangerous blizzard. The wind howled. Snow came down sideways. Nobody moved.
“Oh, it was bad,” Glover said. “It was the coldest I’ve ever been. I’ve never shook so hard.”
The Kansans made it off the highway to a convenience store but didn’t know where to go next. They were stranded until police officers found them and escorted them to the fairgrounds shelter.
Glover and Hawk were among
the hundreds of people on Colorado interstates and highways who were trapped for hours by Wednesday’s bomb cyclone storm, which brought hurricane-level winds and driving snow to the Front Range and Eastern Plains. The snarling blizzard led to dozens of highway rescues, filling emergency shelters across the state.
Although Thursday’s sun peeked through the clouds as weather returned to normal, life for many did not.
Interstates 25 and 70 remained partially closed well into the afternoon, stranding people such as Glover and Hawk in the shelter and causing tractortrailers to line up as they waited for the blockades to be lifted. Tens of thousands of others across the region still lacked power. Schools in Denver and the suburbs stayed closed, and thou- sands more wondered when they would be able to fly out of Denver International Airport.
The storm was blamed for at least one death. State Patrol Cpl. Daniel Groves was killed when he was struck by a vehicle while trying to help another motorist.
More than 54,000 customers in the Denver area were still without power Thursday night, according to Xcel Energy’s power outage map.
Alice Jackson, president of Xcel Energy-Colorado, said the company made “significant progress” overnight to restore services and deployed nearly 800 employees, contract workers and utility workers from other states Thursday to assist in its efforts.
Xcel has not determined when power will be restored fully.
The power outages also knocked out dozens of traffic signals at intersections in Denver and other cities.
And even though the weather returned to normal Thursday, flying in and out of the Mile High City remained a chore. A day after DIA closed its runways for only the fourth time ever because of winds and heavy snow, 703 flights were canceled and 335 were delayed, as travelers struggled to return home.
Between 3,000 and 4,000 airport passengers slept at the airport Wednesday night, airport officials reported.
Motorists were stranded across the state, and law enforcement agencies and public works departments pleaded for patience Thursday while roads were cleared.
Aurora spokeswoman Julie Patterson said the city’s plow trucks had to work extra hard because of the storm’s strength.
“Because of the severity of the storm and all of the challenges with the wind, it requires us to go back and redo everything,” Patterson said.
Brian Fischer was stuck with more than 60 other vehicles at Jackson Gap and 57th Avenue in Aurora for almost 24 hours after leaving work Wednesday at Denver’s airport. Fischer ate Cheetos, drank green tea and watched movies in his car as he waited. He walked to a nearby airport parking facility to use the restroom and warm up.
“I’m just sitting and waiting, hoping that somebody will come in with a tow truck and tow this vehicle and they can get a plow in here to push the snow,” he said from his car Thursday morning.
More than 300 spent the night at the Douglas County Fairgounds emergency shelter.
Jacquelyn Estrada and her husband were trapped for eight hours behind a massive pileup on I-25 between Denver and Colorado Springs. They had been to Denver for a medical appointment, and Estrada was supposed to be lying down to recover.
Instead, she sat in an idle car all day, worrying about her tailpipe being blocked by the ice or running out of gas.
Some people were forced to use the bathroom on the roadside, she said.
“I honestly thought we’d be there all night,” Estrada said. “It worried me.”
The couple chatted via video with their 10-year-old daughter, who was home from school.
“She’s upset that we’re not back,” Estrada said.
The Castle Rock Fire Department received its first accident call at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. Firefighters didn’t stop until 2:30 a.m., making more than 50 rescues. They drove at crawling speeds because of the whiteout conditions.
“Those conditions were just pathetic,” said firefighter Geoff Polidoro. “Those guys on the SnoCat had a rough day.”
While the storm produced apocalyptic scenes of empty cars buried in mountains of snow, the Castle Rock team said it could have been much worse.
“We were very lucky there weren’t more serious injuries,” Polidoro said.
Stranded travelers at the Douglas County Fairgrounds lauded the Red Cross workers and Douglas County deputies for their tireless work.
While they waited for rides to their cars Thursday, people slept, paced and watched videos on their phones. Every so often, a police officer announced destinations where buses would be taking people back to their abandoned cars.
Ericka Calderon sat against the wall as her five children ran around or played on their phones. They were headed home to Forth Worth, Texas, from a ski vacation when the storm changed their plans.
“There’s a little bit of cabin fever going on,” she said. “I think we’re ready to go.”