Mar 2, 2007 7:10 am US/Pacific
Winter Storm Wallops Plains, Midwest
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ―
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Chicago's O'Hare International Airport had delays of well over an hour Friday morning, but other major airports in the region were running close to on time. (File)
CBS
A deadly winter storm packing a blizzard punch walloped parts of the Plains and Midwest, keeping highways and schools closed in some areas and creating monster snow drifts Friday.
At least four storm-related deaths have been reported since the snowfall began Wednesday - the second big winter storm to strike the region in less than a week. More snow was expected before the storms fade later Friday.
Some cities already had well over a foot of snow, with another few inches expected. Roads and schools remained closed as wind blew the fresh snow, limiting visibility, pushing drifts over roads and challenging an army of plows.
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport had delays of well over an hour Friday morning, but other major airports in the region were running close to on time.
Hundreds of flights were nixed Thursday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, spokesman Patrick Hogan said.
"I'll just pull an all-nighter," said Sean McGraw, whose flight home to New York City was canceled.
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver issued a disaster declaration for his state, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty ordered the National Guard to help affected communities.
"It's a whale of a storm," Pawlenty told WCCO-AM, but, he said, "overall, things are going as well as they could."
The University of Minnesota, which closed its Twin Cities campus for the first time since 1991, reopened Friday.
Last weekend, between 8 inches and 2 feet of snow fell over most parts of Minnesota, leaving many plow crews wondering where they'd put all the new snow.
Minneapolis had 11 inches by sunrise Friday, and suburban Plymouth had 17. Western Iowa got 10 to 17 inches of snow, and strong wind created drifts up to 10 feet high.
Snowplows were pulled off the roads in parts of both states because of deteriorating conditions, authorities said. Parts of Interstate 29, I-35 and I-80 in Iowa and Minnesota remained closed Friday.
Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood, spokesman for the Iowa National Guard, said guard members and state troopers had pulled about 80 stranded motorists from I-80 in western Iowa by Thursday night.
Among deaths reported Thursday, two people were killed when their car overturned on a slick road in North Dakota, a woman died in a car crash in Wisconsin and one person died after shoveling snow in Nebraska.
In Wisconsin, wet snow was blamed for the collapse of a section of supermarket roof Thursday in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield. Customers were inside the Pick 'n Save store at the time, but no one was injured.
The storm was part of a larger line of thunderstorms and snowstorms that stretched from Minnesota to the Gulf Coast. Tornadoes killed people in Missouri, Georgia and Alabama, including at least eight at an Alabama high school, authorities said.
To the east, classes at New York schools from Syracuse to Albany and north to the Adirondacks closed or started late Friday after a messy mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain coated parts of the region with ice.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
CBS News Interactive: Winter Watch
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