'Sea of white' in southeast Colorado

Rescue, resupply missions under way in hardest-hit areas

John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 1, 2007 at midnight

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Parts of southeast Colorado remained buried Sunday under a blanket of snowdrifts that completely obscured some state highways for up to 30 miles.

"This is really the tale of two snowstorms," Gov. Bill Owens said after stepping off a Colorado State Patrol airplane that had flown for 2 1/2 hours over the affected areas.

Owens explained that he wasn't referring to the blizzard that hit the Denver area right before Christmas. He meant the difference between the storm that left about 10 inches on the Front Range but muscled up into a blizzard that pummeled the Colorado's Plains with high winds and heavy snow.

"It's just a sea of white," Owens said.

Robin Watrous used the same words to describe the ranch she and her husband work near Utleyville, about 3 miles from the Las Animas- Baca county line.

"We have a drift in the back pasture that's huge. It's about 15 feet tall," Watrous said. "And then we have bare ground right next to it."

No additional deaths have been reported beyond the two people killed in storm-related traffic accidents in Kit Carson County.

However, authorities were concerned about residents in the southeast corner of the state, which has been rendered virtually inaccessible by the storm.

"There have been people working on this around-the-clock," said George Epp, head of the state division of Emergency Management.

Epp said the situation in areas such as Huerfano County appeared to be easing. But, he added, "Things are a little tense further east."

Among developments Sunday:

• Epp said his office has gotten reports of buildings that had collapsed in Lamar, LaJunta and Campo. He said the state is seeking a federal disaster declaration for those areas.

• Volunteers with the Civil Air Patrol flew 12 planes in a grid pattern at an altitude of about 1,000 feet over portions of southeastern Colorado, trying to determine whether people were stranded near any of the vehicles stuck in the snow.

• About 80 members of the Colorado National Guard were running rescue and resupply missions with about 30 Humvees and Susvees, a kind of snowcat with the ability to pull up to 12 people in a heated trailer. They were able to rescue 44 people over the weekend.

• About 658 people spent Saturday night in shelters.

• Epp said rescue crews are also trying to help ranch families recover stranded livestock.

• The Guard also was using two Black Hawk helicopters and a light Kiowa helicopter equipped with infrared imaging equipment to look for any signs of heat from the ground that might indicate a stranded person, said Major Gen. Mason C. Whitney.

Owens said he was struck by how in some parts of southern Colorado, the prairies were brown and bare of snow. But then farther south, the snow piled up.

"You have state highways where you can't even see where the road is for 20 to 30 miles," he said. "There are many other county roads that are impassable and may well be for several days."

On the ground in Springfield, Mayor Jay Suhler reported that it was hard for anyone to get anywhere.

"We got about 3 feet of snow, plus it drifted some," Suhler said. "It's just locked us down. You can't move."

The storm piled on top of about 15 inches that blanketed Springfield during the last storm.

"It's good for the farmers, but it's bad for the livestock people," he observed. "They're going to lose a lot of cattle."

Although snowed in, several residents said they were well-prepared.

In Walsh, Nelson Ricker had planned a New Year's Eve party. With so much snow piled around, he could barely reach his work shed. But there's plenty of food.

The Watrous family also had ample supplies. At one point Sunday, they watched as a plane flew over the ranch.

"Should we wave to it?" Matt Watrous asked his wife.

"No. Then they'll think we need help," she replied.

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