OKLAHOMA CITY: A fierce Christmas storm dumped snow and ice across the midsection of the United States, stranding travelers as highways and airports closed and leaving many to celebrate the holiday just where they were.
Some churches decided to cancel Christmas Eve services, while others saw sharply lower attendance.
Meteorologists predicted the slow-moving storm would glaze highways in the East with ice through Christmas night and that gusty thunderstorms would hamper the South. An ice storm warning was issued for parts of West Virginia and the Blue Ridge mountains in North Carolina and Virginia, while a wind chill advisory cautioned of temperatures as low as minus 34 Celsius in Montana.
The National Weather Service warned that blizzards would hit parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin.
Slippery roads have been blamed for at least 18 deaths this week as the storm moved east across the country from the Southwest. Driving became so treacherous that authorities closed interstates in Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas to prevent further collisions.
The National Weather Service said the storm posed a threat to life and property. Officials warned travelers to stay home, and pack emergency kits if they had to set out.
Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry declared a state of emergency.
Jonathan Cannon was spending the night at a Baptist church in Goldsby, Oklahoma, after being stuck for several hours on I-35. He had left Sherman, Texas, a little after noon on Thursday hoping to join his wife in Edmond, Oklahoma — a trip that usually takes about three hours.
Cannon, a reporter at the Sherman Herald Democrat, said about 200 people — plus the dogs many travelers had with them in their cars — were in the church Thursday night, with more possibly on the way. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to finish his journey on Friday.
“This is mine and my wife’s first Christmas together, so she’s not very excited,” he said.
About 100 passengers and the same number of workers were stuck at Oklahoma’s largest airport, which closed Thursday afternoon after several inches of snow clogged runways. At least 70 flights were canceled, said Mark Kranenburg, director of Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City.
Kranenburg told The Oklahoman that the airport reopened Friday morning, with one of three runways operational, though many flights remained delayed or canceled.
Oklahoma City had received 14 inches (36 centimeters) of snow by Thursday night, breaking a record set back in 1914 of 2.5 inches (6 centimeters). Winds gusted to 80 kph in central Kansas, while winds gusting at up to 100 kph in Texas drifted the snow as deep as 1.5 meters in some areas.
