Snow and storms cause havoc across US

Areas of the Sierra Nevada have been hit with the heaviest snowfall in almost 90 years, with steep drifts stranding a passenger train, knocking out the Reno airport and shutting down major highways across the mountains.

Up to 19 feet of snow has fallen at elevations above 7,000 feet since December 28, and 6.5 feet fell at lower elevations in the Reno area. Meteorologists said it was the most snow in the Reno-Lake Tahoe area since 1916.

“I’ve lived here for almost 40 years and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Peter Walenta, 69, said from his home on the southern end of Lake Tahoe.

Storms also have caused flooding in Southern California and Arizona, deadly avalanches in Utah and ice damage and flooding in the Ohio Valley.

The weather was blamed for at least eight weekend deaths in Southern California, including a homeless man killed yesterday by a landslide. Along the storms’ eastward track, avalanches killed two people on Saturday in Utah, authorities said.

An avalanche yesterday killed a 13-year-old boy after knocking him from a ski lift at the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort, 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas. No other injuries have been reported.

About 25 motorists were rescued by National Guard members after they become stranded overnight on US Highway 395 about 20 miles south of Reno, Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Jeff Bowers said. Motorists had to wait up to six hours until rescuers could reach them.

“That would have been as scary as it gets to be out there alone in those conditions,” Bowers said.

The California Highway Patrol reported 720 crashes last night, more than three times the number of accidents during the previous Sunday when roads were dry.

Reno-Tahoe International Airport was closed for 12 hours overnight for the second time in a week – and only the third time in 40 years – because ploughs could not keep up with the heavy snowfall, spokeswoman Trish Tucker said.

Elsewhere, flooding along the Ohio River forced hundreds of Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky residents from their homes.

Ohio Governor Bob Taft declared a state of emergency in 28 of Ohio’s 88 counties. Ohio authorities believe carbon monoxide poisoning has killed five people using generators for electricity since Friday.

Indiana officials said some of the worst flooding since 1937 had isolated pockets across the southern part of the state, forcing hundreds of people from their homes.