Midwest snow storm blankets Midwest

Posted: Tuesday, December 12, 2000


"I used to like snow and ice skating and stuff like that, but this is crazy," John Alaniz said on a Chicago corner, a black fur hat with ear flaps almost concealing his face as snow blew through the streets.



Temperatures fell below the freezing mark as far south as Texas - where snow flakes were possible in El Paso - and wind chills plummeted to 51 below zero in North Dakota.




"Everybody just jumped up. We were so excited!" said 7-year-old Margaret Anne Kellas, a second-grader whose plans included holding a snowball fight and making a snowman family.

Less excited were the thousands of travelers stranded when Chicago's Midway and O'Hare airports - two of the busiest hubs in America - canceled about 75 percent of departing flights, affecting connections to many other parts of the nation.



Andre Sanchez of Los Angeles headed to the airport in Chicago anyway, hoping there would still be a flight out.

"We brought games and other things; what else can you do?" said Sanchez, 46, who was traveling with his wife and three daughters.



Shoppers picked store shelves clean of storm supplies, and by 1 p.m., there was no windshield washer fluid left at Jefferson-Chene Shell station in Detroit. And no scrapers or brushes, either.

Twenty snow blowers went out the door in less than two hours at a Sears store in Lincoln, Neb.

"I think they waited until the last minute," said store employee Bob Rung.

Shoppers crowding Martin's supermarket in Elkhart, Ind., were taking the storm in stride, manager Stan Mast said.

"We had a lot of people coming in and buying their baking supplies," he said. "I've heard several people say they are going to try and get some Christmas baking done."

Monday's storm didn't faze many Wisconsin residents used to bitter and blustery weather.

Roosevelt Gibson Jr., 74, stood with his cane at a downtown Milwaukee intersection and squinted into the wind as he waited for his bus.

"I seen worse than this," he said. "It's part of living here. Gotta take it as it comes."