Unhappy record at down-and-out DIA

As city digs, airport prepares for takeoff

Daniel Chacon and John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 22, 2006 at midnight

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Colorado struggled back to its feet Thursday, as a massive effort to dig out from under the Blizzard of 2006 made slow but steady progress.

Denver International Airport is scheduled to reopen at noon today after a 45-hour closure - the longest in the airport's history - resulted in approximately 2,000 canceled flights.

As the first patch of blue sky appeared Thursday afternoon, a fleet of 30 pickup trucks equipped with snowplows began making a solitary pass through Denver's side streets.

Normally, the city simply waits for snow on those streets to melt. Mayor John Hickenlooper said it was worth the expense to help people reconnect during the holiday weekend and finish their Christmas shopping.

"We know this is something that matters to the citizens of Denver, and we're going to go above and beyond," Hickenlooper said during a late afternoon media briefing.

Denver Public Works Manager Bill Vidal predicted the total cost of the cleanup for this storm would consume up to $1 million of the city's annual $4 million snow-removal budget.

Statewide, several major highways reopened, but Gov. Bill Owens advised motorists to stay off the highways for at least another day.

"This remains a dangerous storm still, especially on the plains," Owens said from the Colorado Emergency Operations Center in Centennial.

"I've been asked by the professionals (in law enforcement) to ask people to avoid making long-distance travel in Colorado still for at least another day," he said. "If you're planning a longer trip, why don't you wait . . . to make sure that these roads are passable?"

RTD buses and trains are scheduled to resume operations today on a limited Sunday schedule. Light rail was sporadically available Thursday.

Businesses also began to reopen, although some were still knocked out by the storm.

A Western Union office on East Colfax Avenue in Denver that boasts an "Open 24 Hours" sign had posted another message: "WE ARE CLOSED TILL FRIDAY. SORRY! WE RAN OUT OF MONEY AND EMPLOYEES!"

Owens said state government would begin to return to normal operations at 10 a.m. today. He asked state employees to return to work if they could.

The city of Denver will also reopen at 10 a.m. today. However, trash and recycling services will be delayed until Tuesday.

Owens, who lives in Centennial, said he had a fairly easy time getting home Wednesday night, but an Army Humvee had to pick him up Thursday morning.

"I couldn't have done it without them," he said.

'Snow angels' appear

The storm also brought out "snow angels" of a different sort.

To cite an example, Lee Anne Castro, her husband, Rick, and three friends have been driving up and down Wadsworth Avenue for two days, freeing cars from the snow.

"If we were in the same position, we would like someone to help us, too.

"If you've got the means, why not help?" Lee Anne Castro asked.

They have dug out more than 50 cars and picked up a sheriff's deputy who was headed to her sister's stuck vehicle.

"A lot of people had been driving for seven or more hours and got stuck three or four blocks from their house," Castro said. "They were happy to see us."

Better weather is on the way. The National Weather Service lifted its blizzard warning at noon Thursday. By then, 30 inches of snow had been measured during a 24-hour period in Thornton, Castle Rock and Morrison.

One of the heaviest snowfalls came at Aspen Conifer, where 42 inches fell in 24 hours, for a total depth of 50 inches.

Today's forecast calls for partly sunny skies and temperatures warming to the upper 30s.

There is still a 10 percent chance of additional snowfall coming on Saturday.

At DIA, stranded passengers made their way back to Denver after spending the night at the airport.

"We've only been closed three times," said DIA spokesman Chuck Cannon.

"Three closures for weather in 12 years isn't bad . . .

"I would frankly like to strangle the person who came up with the term that this is an all-weather airport," Cannon said.

"But we can operate better in bad weather than any other airport in the country."

Airport managers cajoled travelers to leave the facility Thursday. Public-address announcements emphasized there would be no flights for another day, as plows cleared parking lots and the 10-mile Peña Boulevard to Interstate 70.

Even so, an estimated 1,500 people remained in the airport at nightfall, spokesman Steve Snyder said.

Many of those people were far from happy.

"There's a lot of very bitter people here, and I'm one of them," said Robert Helmer, a Denver pharmacist.

"This was major mismanagement."

Helmer managed to get on a United Airlines flight to St. Louis on Wednesday morning, sat for an hour waiting for a late-arriving flight attendant, then three more hours on the tarmac before the flight was finally canceled.

He spent the night on the airport floor, covered by what he could find in his carry-on bag.

Injuries piling up

At Denver Health Medical Center, about 25 people came in with injuries suffered during falls and other mishaps.

Stephen J. Wolf, the hospital's attending emergency doctor, said physicians have been treating dislocated shoulders, fractured wrists, broken ankles and knee injuries.

"When they fall, something's got to break their fall," Wolf said.

He said it's likely the hospital will see more victims from the blizzard as the snow stops falling and more people come out of their homes to start shoveling and digging out.

His advice: "You don't have to shovel the whole walk in five minutes."

So far, Wolf hasn't seen any babies born in the Blizzard of 2006.

"Usually, this isn't the time to get them, but you would expect to see them in another nine months," he said.

Developments

• Limited flights resume at DIA at noon with two of six runways open. Passengers are urged to check their flight status with their airline.

• RTD resumes bus service on a limited basis, running a Saturday schedule today.

• State offices open at 10 a.m. today.

• Many local governments and schools remain closed, but city of Denver offices open at 10 a.m. Denver trash pickups won't resume until Tuesday, however.

• Arapahoe County offices open at 11 a.m. today.

• Interstates 25, 70 and 76, and other highways are reopening, but officials urge drivers to avoid travel if possible.

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