More Snow Headed For Colorado And Plains

More than a week after a blizzard blasted the Plains and Rocky Mountain regions, a new snow storm is forecasted Friday.

Only about an inch of snow was expected in the eastern Plains, but the Denver area could receive up to 6 inches, CBS station KCNC-TV reports.

However, it is the winds predicted to gust up to 50 mph that could cause the most problems.

A snow and blowing snow advisory covered Denver and Denver International Airport. There had been no reports of flight delays, but numerous school districts in areas affected by a winter storm warning or other advisories canceled classes for the day due to poor driving conditions.

For Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, the strain of the winter storms was taking its toll on exhausted emergency officials and the meager resources of small rural communities.

In Kansas, Haskell County emergency management director Jery Bailey hadn't had a good night's sleep in six days. Even when he went home to his dark, cold house, phone calls interrupted his sleep — and he worried during the times when there weren't any calls. His power was restored Thursday.

"This has been a nightmare," Bailey said.

The latest storm comes as utility crews struggled to restore power to thousands of residents, and melting snow and ice created new problems, turning the ground into mush and tearing up county roads where heavy utility trucks tried to get through.

About 6,700 customers were without power in Nebraska, and several thousand were still in the dark in Kansas. Nebraska officials rented about two dozen huge generators to temporarily power 16 communities.

Helicopters delivered hundreds of bales of hay to stranded cattle across the Oklahoma Panhandle, Kansas and Colorado's rangeland. Thursday was the third and final day of the relief effort, but Laura McConnell, a spokeswoman for the team coordinating the effort, said Guard soldiers would still assist with ground deliveries on Friday.

"Our foremost thing is to try to save human lives, but now we have the economic thing too with feedlots and animals," said Bailey, adding that officials were trying to figure out exactly how many cattle had died and how to bury them.

An estimated 3,500 cattle are believed to have died on rangeland in six counties in southeastern Colorado, or about 5 percent of the 70,000 livestock in the area, said Leonard Pruett, the region's agriculture extension agent for Colorado State University.

In Topeka, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday about 1,000 head of cattle have been lost to the storm, but added the number "could grow dramatically."

"Averting and recovering from widespread livestock casualties is important to our state's economic stability and the well-being of our livestock producers," she said.

Pruett said other effects of the blizzard, blamed for at least 13 deaths, will be felt later. In addition to cattle that die from storm-related illnesses, the price of hay has soared and much grazing land is still inaccessible.

Todd Domer, spokesman for the Kansas Livestock Association, was particularly concerned about the pounds that stressed cattle were shedding.

Kansas is the nation's second-largest cattle-feeding state behind Texas, with an estimated 6.65 million head of cattle on ranches and feedlots.

To make matters worse, the price of hay has climbed from about $150 a ton to as much as $210 a ton since the storm. Ranchers will depend more on hay and other supplemental feed to keep their livestock alive because grass is buried in snow.

On Thursday, long lines formed at makeshift fuel depots. In Montezuma, Dan Brinkherhoff filled seven containers with gas for generators to run his water wells.

He bought $38.95 in gas. "That will last me one day," he said.

One piece of good news is that the snow should help the state's winter wheat crop. Secretary of Agriculture Adrian Polonsky said the moisture will be "very beneficial to getting the crop off to a good start."