Plains States Dig Out of Heavy Snow : Arctic Air Chills Southern Region, Ruins Fruit Crops

Travelers hit the roads again today on the Plains after being snowbound over the weekend, and the National Guard flew hay to stranded cattle. While the snow dwindled, Arctic air rushed deep into the South and some peach growers said their crops were wiped out.

Crews continued working to cut through snow drifts up to 14 feet deep that blocked most highways in northwestern Kansas, including 250 miles of Interstate 70 from Salina to the Colorado border, after two blizzards in less than a week.

Light snow fell today as far south as southeastern Texas, Arkansas and northern Louisiana into Tennessee, and freeze warnings were posted over central and eastern Texas, much of Louisiana and Mississippi, southeastern Missouri and all of Arkansas and Tennessee.

Record Cold

Low temperature records were broken or tied in more than a dozen cities as far south as the Texas coast, where Corpus Christi hit 36 and Galveston’s 37 broke a 101-year-old record. Goodland, Kan., and Grand Island, Neb., hit record lows of just 2 degrees.

Snow also fell today across parts of the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley.

Most of Nebraska had sunshine, giving motorists a clear view of the four- to six-foot drifts that piled up during the weekend.

“It was pretty crazy,” said Deb Carlson of the Interstate 80 Holiday Inn in Grand Island, as hundreds of guests checked out to resume their interrupted travel.

Interstate Closed

Interstate 80 was closed from Omaha to North Platte from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. The Nebraska State Patrol said several highways in the southeastern part of the state were still closed today.

Drifts to 12 feet blocked roads in northwestern Kansas, and officials said U.S. 36 was sealed off. Eight Kansas National Guard Huey helicopters set out to bring hay bales to cattle snowbound in 18 counties.

The cold air flowing across the South had farmers worried.

One major central Texas peach grower, Milton Jung, admitted defeat Sunday, saying his 250 acres of peaches appeared to be wiped out.

“Our loss will probably be close to $300,000,” or 20,000 bushels, Jung said of the four orchards he owns east of Fredericksburg. “There might be some left somewhere in the county, but I seriously doubt it.”

Fruit crops in northeastern Oklahoma also have been damaged by several nights of cold and some growers said they are facing financial disaster.

John Auffett of Adair County Orchard in Stilwell, Okla., said he stands to lose a 300-acre apple crop and a 60-acre peach crop, or 70% of his business.

“There’s going to be a lot of damage in Oklahoma,” said David Livesay of Porter, Okla., who owns 4,000 apple trees and 100 acres of peach trees.