A massive storm buried much of the central United States in dangerous ice and snow Wednesday, stranding scores of motorists with massive drifts that shut down major roads and defeated plows.
Strong winds created drifts as high as 15 feet (4.6 meters) as the storm dropped as much as four feet of snow (1.2 meters) in some areas, said Pat Slattery, a spokesman for the National Weather Service.
"This has been a really big season opening storm," Slattery said.
Hundreds of flights were cancelled, schools were closed and the freezing rain that preceded the snow in many places created hazardous road conditions.
Blizzard warnings were issued across the midwest as the storm moved eastward across the country after pounding Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Arizona.
The storm was expected to move across the Great Lakes into Canada, sparing much of the East Coast.
But flash flood warnings were issued for the Mississippi and Tennessee River valleys and midatlantic and southeast states due to heavy rains from the southern part of the system.
Officials told people to stay home if they can, pack an emergency kit of blankets, food and water if they have to drive somewhere, and to avoid rural side roads.
"It may be a while for somebody to find you if you get hung up," Slattery cautioned.
Stranded motorists were waiting a couple hours to be rescued in Iowa, where the National Guard was called in to help after the state was blanketed with nine to 16 inches (22 to 41 centimeters) of snow.
"We are snowed in. It's not good," said Courtney Green, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
"It's bitterly, bitterly cold. It's just been gusting all day. When you have the volume of snow and the high winds, there are just huge drifts." Snow plows were pulled off the roads for part of Wednesday because visibility was so poor and the storm was so bad that they weren't making much of a difference, she said.
Even the military Humvees were having trouble, and large truck drivers were also getting stuck in the snow.
A man who was found behind the post office in Yale, Iowa died en route to hospital. He had been there for at least a couple hours, Green said. Wisconsin declared a state of emergency, shut down government offices and also activated the National Guard after the storm dumped up to 17 inches of snow across the state.
With classes cancelled, meanwhile, students at the University of Madison planned to make the best of the deluge with a massive snowball fight, in their second attempt to beat the world record.
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