Colorado & Denver News

DENVER (AP) ― Stranded travelers lined up at ticket counters at snowbound Denver International Airport on Thursday, hoping to get out of town amid a powerful snowstorm that paralyzed Colorado's biggest cities with up to 2 feet of snow.

More than 1,000 flights had been canceled by Thursday, and the airport was not expected to reopen until noon Friday, spokesman Steve Snyder said. An estimated 4,700 people spent the night in the terminal or concourses.

"It's the wind and blowing and drifting snow that is causing the main problems," Snyder said. He said plows couldn't keep up, and runways were drifted in within 30 minutes after they were cleared.

Snow fell through the night and into the early morning, with up to 3 more inches expected.

Travelers spent the night on cots, in chairs or on the stone floor. Some slept within the roped-off lanes in front of the check-in counters, hoping to get first crack at a flight.

"It wasn't comfortable," said Cathy Stuart, 44, a sales representative who slept on the airport floor after her flight home to Dallas was canceled.

"I'm frustrated, but I'm not letting it get out of control," she said.

The main freeway to the airport remained open, and Snyder said officials had booked hundreds of hotel rooms for stranded passengers and were arranging for Regional Transportation District buses to take them there.

The ride would be free but passengers would have to pay for their accommodations, he said.

Some airport monitors tantalized travelers by listing "on time" beside arrivals and departures, but Snyder said that was probably caused by a computer glitch.

Boulder musician Sara Kelton, 27, was trying to catch a flight to Pennsylvania to spend the holidays with her family.

"I'm just happy to be alive. It was a terrifying drive," Kelton said of the two-hour slog over slick, snow-clogged roads to get to the airport.

Airport officials distributed hundreds of cots and blankets in various colors Wednesday night, along with baby formula and diapers, but there wasn't enough bedding to go around.

"It feels like I'm a refugee," said Lisa Maurer, a graduate student at the University of Wyoming who got stuck on her way home to Germany.

Maurer said she got one of the first 20 blankets distributed. She decided to share the scratchy, bright blue wrap with a woman she'd met in the airport, and the pair planned to bunk on the floor by an elevator.

Stacey Shepard opted for a nearby hotel after spending hours in the terminal with her husband and two young children, hoping to get a flight.

"We have our snacks, our clothes and we have blankets in the car," Shepard said.

She helped daughter Ruby, 2, to crackers and granola bars from a pink backpack as the girl shared headphones on a portable DVD player with brother Miller, 4.

Shepard was headed from Fort Collins to Chicago to visit relatives, but she was resigned to the wait.

"I think everyone who got here this morning knew that this was coming," she said.

Airport officials had urged travelers to go home, but later helped find some 470 hotel rooms around Denver for those who wanted them. Snyder said the Red Cross and the airport worked to distribute more than 4,000 blankets to those who were stranded.

"It's the most blankets we've ever had," Snyder said.

For travelers like Randy Daigle, 32, heading for a hotel room over treacherous roads was not an option. Daigle, his wife and two young sons were headed for Houston to visit Daigle's family through the New Year.

"It's better for them to be here and safe," he said as his boys lay on the airport floor, playing with toys. "We still have high spirits. We're just taking it a little bit at a time. We're just keeping the eye on the prize."

The biggest crowds were in the airport's central concourse, with soaring, tent-like white roof and giant windows giving onto a panorama of blizzard and whiteout.

"It's very surreal," said David Ryan, 35, headed to Frankfurt, Germany. "There's a full-on storm outside and I'm just very fortunate to be in the airport right now."

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