15-Foot Snowdrifts Bury East; Travelers Forced to Shelters

Snowdrifts as deep as 15 feet made driving nearly impossible today from Indiana to North Carolina. Ohio authorities vowed to arrest drivers making non-emergency trips and called on the National Guard to clear roads and deliver food to isolated families.

Hundreds of schools were closed and many roads were impassable, forcing travelers to emergency shelters in armories, hotels and firehouses.

This week’s storms have been blamed for at least 39 deaths.

Drifting snow closed nearly every major highway in northern Indiana, and more than 500 people bunked in National Guard armories in the northern and central parts of the state.

Between 14 and 24 inches of snow in eastern Kentucky caused power outages, and near-blizzard conditions stranded 300 people in cars along a highway buried under 15-foot drifts.

‘We’re in Bad Shape’

“The churches are full, the fire departments are full,” Montgomery County Deputy Sheriff Bobby Harvey said. “We’re in bad shape. All the roads are closed at this time.”

Harvey said he was stuck for nine hours when he went to rescue people.

Unrelenting snow caused a state of emergency in 38 Ohio counties, and state police threatened to arrest drivers who were on non-emergency trips. More than six inches of snow hit Cincinnati, and scores of school districts--including Cleveland’s 78,000-student district--were closed. Up to eight inches of snow fell in northeastern Ohio.

Guard Helps Out

Gov. Richard F. Celeste ordered the National Guard to help dig out Lawrence and Adams counties in southeastern Ohio.

“We have about 40 rural roads closed in this county.” said Adams County Sheriff Robert Johnson. “Drifts are 6, 8, 10 feet deep and the guard is helping clear them. They’re also taking some food to these rural families. Some people are isolated but there are no serious problems.”

A Marysville high school basketball team had to spend the night in the gym at West Jefferson High in central Ohio after a game.

“A snowplow driver brought in some cards and they played cards until about 4 a.m. and then went to sleep,” said West Jefferson principal Dave Holland. “A cafeteria supervisor made it in early this morning and fixed them bacon, eggs, hash browns, the whole works. Then they left.”

Many Roads Closed

A foot of snow buried Huntington, W.Va., and 11 inches fell at Charleston.

Up to 30 inches of snow closed all secondary roads in North Carolina, and primary roads were barely passable.

The storm also poured rain along the East Coast as it slid northward, with up to two inches on parts of Maryland and around an inch over the Northeast.

Southeastern Pennsylvania got 1 to 1 1/2 inches of rain. In Lancaster County, dozens of roads were flooded, at least two bridges were knocked out and two mobile home parks were evacuated Tuesday.