Snow Causes Texas Pileups as More Storms Hit South

A powerful snowstorm blew out of the Rockies and pummeled the Southern Plains on Tuesday, closing hundreds of miles of highways.

In Amarillo, Tex., 200 vehicles were involved in a series of early morning pileups on snow-covered Interstate 40, but no deaths were reported, police said.

Two motorists were killed in weather-related traffic accidents Tuesday elsewhere in the Texas Panhandle. The storm also was blamed for the death of an 11-year-old girl in a Colorado sledding accident.

Interstate 40 was closed for 175 miles in Texas from the Oklahoma to the New Mexico lines. The Postal Service suspended residential deliveries, and flights were delayed at Amarillo International Airport.

By midmorning, at least nine inches of snow was reported at Hereford, Tex., and a 50-mile stretch of U.S. 60 from Hereford to Clovis, N.M., was closed because of zero visibility.

In the Oklahoma Panhandle, the National Weather Service warned motorists of the “life-threatening situation if your car or truck becomes stranded” because of the combination of drifting snow and subzero wind-chill readings.

Near-blizzard conditions were expected to spread eastward as the storm moved out of the Panhandle, forecasters said.

Residents of Colorado were busy digging out of the storm that left up to a foot of snow Monday; many schools remained closed.

In the South, meanwhile, state and federal damage assessment teams fanned out through the region to help determine whether federal assistance will be available.

Insurance workers and disaster officials predicted Tuesday that losses from the savage weekend storm system that swept across 11 states would rise significantly higher than $150 million.

Another storm system pounded the region. Tornado-force winds early Tuesday destroyed at least one trailer home in Baldwin County on Alabama’s Gulf Coast and downed power lines and trees.

In southern Georgia, two tornadoes touched down in Worth County. No injuries were reported in either state.

In Brandon, Miss., 1 1/2 inches of rain overnight aggravated problems for storm-weary residents of Rankin County, where about 70 homes were either demolished or damaged Saturday night.

National Weather Service officials said 35-year-old equipment at the Jackson, Miss., airport was not sophisticated enough to detect the tornadoes, which killed 15 people in the state. A new $1-million system is to be installed in February.