As a new winter storm hit an already snow-stricken La Plata County, rescue teams using snowmobiles were headed deep into the countyside at midafternoon to rescue stranded ranchers and motorists.
“It’s snowing like crazy,” said Danni Lorrigan, emergency management coordinator for the La Plata County Office of Emergency Preparedness.
Lorrigan and Butch Knowlton, director of the emergency preparedness office, said this afternoon that the situation has become so bad — and “going downhill by the minute” — that they are activating the county’s Emergency Coordination Center.
The region that they cover, which was already hard hit by snow over the weekend, includes the towns of Durango, Bayfield and Silverton.
Lorrigan said that currently, there are 2,900 homes in the county without electricity, and it is “likely to be two days or more” before the electricity is restored.
Lorrigan said the area hardest hit by the power outage is in the eastern part of the county, the rural Forest Lakes subdivision, about 8 miles north of Bayfield.
Rescue crews riding snowmobiles were attempting to reach an isolated ranch near Vallecito Reservoir, where the occupants are stranded, she said. Another effort is being made to reach a woman heard screaming from her snowbound car about 200 yards off a county road northwest of Bayfield.
She said that sheriff’s deputies are going into the countryside to warn residents of the increasingly serious situation, which could impact the county for several days.
Lorrigan said Durango and Pagosa Springs are expected to receive another foot of snow by midnight, with snow of 18 inches in some parts of the county.
She said a shelter is open at Bayfield High School for those without electricity.
Both Lorrigan and Steve Gregg, manager of operations for the La Plata Electric Association, said the region has been saturated by heavy, wet snow that has caused havoc.
Gregg said the heavy snow has snapped power lines and trees, causing power outages in the Forest Lakes, Vallecito Reservoir and Yellow Jacket Pass areas.
“Eighty percent of the damage to the power lines comes from the trees,” said Gregg. “It has just shredded the trees. When the trees snap, it sounds like shotguns going off.”
Indiana Reed, spokesperson for La Plata Electric Association, said that in addition to the 2,900 homes without power in La Plata County, another 300 homes were without power in adjacent Archuleta County.
Reed said there are 12 crews in the field trying to restore service. She said another four crews are on the way to help.
“All hands available are being mobilized to restore power,” said Reed.
Reed said that the wetness of the snow is causing serious problems. “Snowblowers don’t even go through it,” she said.
She said that snowplows have left literally “walls of snow” along the highways going out of Durango.
Both Gregg and Lorrigan said phone communication has been difficult because of phone outages and callers jamming the lines that are open.
Lorrigan said residents have been told of the Bayfield shelter and the weather situation through local radio stations and highway signs.
Most of the highways in the county turned extremely treacherous by midafternoon, with multiple vehicles in ditches, Lorrigan said. The snow has shut U.S. 550 because of the closure of Coal Bank, Molas and Red Mountain Passes due to avalanche concerns.
Troy Lindquist, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, said that an upper level low pressure trough over western Colorado is bringing the snow to much of Colorado including to the southern portions of the state. He said a surface low is currently over southern Colorado.
He said that currently a weather station seven miles northwest of Bayfield is reporting 28 inches of snow on the ground and four inches in the last 24 hours. He said a weather station 12 miles northwest of Pagosa Springs also reported four inches of snow in the last 24 hours with 31 inches of snow on the ground. He said Silverton reported 8.5 inches in the last 24 hours.
Lindquist said there is a heavy snow warning out for the lower elevations of La Plata county, including Durango, through mid-night, with a winter storm warning out for the higher elevations. He said the difference between a heavy snow warning and a winter storm warning is that a winter storm warning includes both heavy snow and high winds.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
