Food, meds reach snowed-in Park Co. homes
John C. Ensslin
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Dennis Schroeder / The Rocky
A crew from El Paso County clears County Road 5 just south of Fairplay on Tuesday. Winds up to 100 mph buried many of Park County's roads with huge drifts, prompting a declaration of emergency.
Rescue crews riding snowmobiles and snowcats delivered urgently needed food and medical supplies Tuesday to 17 Park County homes where residents have been stranded for a week by snow and high winds that have made rural roads impassable.
About 50 search and rescue team members from Jefferson, Clear Creek and Arapahoe counties aided Park County officials in reaching people in areas where blizzard-like conditions on the ground have sealed in residents.
About 100 people have been stranded at their homes since Super Bowl Sunday when a series of storms pounded the area, repeatedly dropping between 2 to 10 inches of snow.
The situation was aggravated last weekend as high winds buried many of the counties' secondary roads.
"The county has done a good job on the primary roads," said Mike Roll, North-West Fire District fire chief. "But the secondary roads are essentially cemented in at this point."
There have been no reports of fatalities or serious injuries.
But conditions have been so bad that county officials declared an emergency this week.
That helped enable other public works agencies from as far as Baca County to lend heavy snow-removal equipment to the effort.
In Fairplay, where U.S. 285 was dry in most places, there were few outward signs of the emergency, except for about 20 volunteers who had crowded into the emergency operations center.
"People are feeling the help, and that's a tribute to you," one of the emergency management officials told the group.
The American Red Cross has shipped emergency supplies to the county, and two shelters have been set up.
One provides a place for the search and rescue crews to bunk overnight.
The other, which is not yet activated, is ready in case stranded motorists or people who have evacuated their homes need somewhere to stay.
The frequent snowstorms and high winds have caused such icy conditions and poor visibility that U.S. 285 has been closed repeatedly over the last few weeks, Roll said.
"I've never seen 285 shut down as many times as it's been shut down in the last few weeks," he said.
The highway and primary county roads have been kept clear. But part of the problem has been blowing snow that erases efforts made during the day on secondary roads.
"The county gets one of the roads clear and then overnight the winds make that road completely impassable," Roll said.
Crews took advantage of some relatively calm weather Tuesday to make some headway on clearing the rural roads, even digging out some private roads to homes where residents were stranded, Roll said.
But officials also were eyeing nervously a weather forecast that called for more high winds Tuesday night and possibly another 4 to 8 inches of snow today.
"All the ground we've made up today may be lost, and we'll have to start all over again," Roll said.
Much of the focus Tuesday was on delivering items such as blood pressure and diabetes medicine, along with food to the stranded residents.
People in the 17 households were among those who had contacted an emergency hotline set up by the county.
Others may be stranded as well, Roll said.
"There could possibly be more, but so far as we know, they are OK and self-sufficient with food and fuel."
Pitching in
* Rescue missions performed Tuesday: 17
* Estimated number of stranded residents: 100
* Miles of roads cleared Tuesday: 100
* Number of snow plows, trucks and other equipment that Park County has working: 30
* Number of snow-removal vehicles lent by other agencies: 30
* Agencies contributing equipment and personnel: Pueblo, Baca, Jefferson, El Paso, Garfield counties; city of Colorado Springs, Colorado Department of Transportation
* Agencies contributing equipment Tuesday: Teller County, Colorado Department of Corrections.
* Road conditions: All state and federal highways, as well as most Park County roads were open as of Tuesday night.
Stranded in Park County?
Call 719-836-4160 for snow-related assistance. Emergency 911 response is running normally, but is only for fire, police or medical emergencies.
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February 13, 2008
6:33 a.m.
Suggest removal
Vtwinman writes:
Another example of global cooling
February 13, 2008
7:16 a.m.
Suggest removal
greenleaf writes:
Vtwinman,
It's the mountains; it's winter!
In the summer on an unusually hot dry day can we expect you to say: " Another example of global warming" ? Of course not! Same harebrained logic though. Rather than trolling why don't you try to bring something substantial to the discussion instead of insulting everyone's intelligence.?
Besides: This is SASQUATCH'S old broken record. He's going to be angry that you stole it.
February 13, 2008
1:24 p.m.
Suggest removal
nonayerbsns writes:
And the big question goes unanswered: why in the name of sweet HeyZeus are these people living in this area? I find it most comical when people suffer for living in areas that were never intended for human habitation. (and yes, I realize that there are many MANY places like that)
February 13, 2008
2:15 p.m.
Suggest removal
greenleaf writes:
GOOD point nonayerbsns! It's cold and windy in South Park all the time. I guess that they are ranchers and service providers for ranchers.
February 13, 2008
3:23 p.m.
Suggest removal
southparkhaven writes:
I own a home in South Park, just off County Rd 5. It is beautiful country regardless of the weather. The peace and quiet, the wildlife and the great outdoors are reasons WHY people live there. We can get out of the city and away for the crowds.