Evening star., 1953-02-22
Death Toll Reaches Is
As Cold and Storms
Rip Western Areas
BY the Assoeiatsd Pross

By the AsSoeiafed Pr08s
A wave Of intense, cold en-
quilted a. wide stretch Of land In
the West and Midwest Saturday
The mercury plunged as low as
81 below zero. The death toll
rose to 10.
d, The worst snowStorm OF the
season petered out, leaving q
broad belt in the midlands dotted
with drifts that lowered as high
as trees in at least one State.
p. The storm center that had
whipped up blizzards from the
Rocky Mountains to Lake Super
ior moved into Ontario. AS the
cold front moved eastward, the
air churned and temperatures
dropped.
Fast Temperature Drop.
Winds OF gale force buffeted
New York State. The blow ranged
from IS to IS miles per hour in
the Western part Of the State.
with gusts between so and 80.
Buffalo's temperature plummeted
Is degrees in less than three
hours.
In Rochester, a 62-mile-an-
hour wind topped trees, tore
down utility wires and ripped
the roofs off some buildings.
Falling branches severed a
power line and cut of electricity
to o part of Batavia, for about
an hour. Telephone lines were
damaged in LockDort.
Nine of the dead were in snow
hit Colorado and Wyoming-f1ve
in traffic and four caused by
overexertion. A girl froze to
death in a marooned car in Ne
braska. Two men were killed in
two auto accidents during a
rainStorm in Pennsylvania. One
woman lost her life in the south
ern tornadoes.
Temperatures plunged in the
Midwest with 81 below zero re-
ported at Fraser and Gunnison,
Colo, Is below at International
Falls, Mimi: 10 below at Sibley.
Iowa: 9 below at North Platte,
Neb., and Z above at Dalhart,
Tex.
Fears For Citrus Crops.
A low of % above in central
Arizona-coldest for the date in
81 years-raised fears Of extern
sive damage to citrus crops.
- Task forces laboring' in bitter
cold strove to throw off mans
white burden in the snow-cov-
cred sections.
In Nebraska, the State Main
tenance Engineer said road
opening is going to go pretty
slow" In shelterbelts-lines of
trees designed to break the force
of winds-some drifts were as
high as trees. @'-@- -. =
- But clearing skies and a fore
east of less severe cold eased con-
cern for the safety Of cattle in
the Western and Northern areas
hit hardest by the storm. 'Tele-
phone company crews strove to
restore service to SO towns which
had. been cut off. =.
s@ Woman Dies in Car.
Miss Barbara Burt 90, died in
an automobile that was entirely
covered by snow near Osmond,
Neb. A physician attributed her
death to freezing. .. ....
Scores of snow plows began to-
burrow through to isolated towns
and farms in Minnesota and
South Dakota.
Hundreds of basketball play
ers and fans we're forced to
spend Friday night in gymnasi-
ums. Most of a wedding party
of SIS spent the night with a
newly married couple, Mr.. and
Mrs. Maurice Lysne. in a church
in Hayward. MINI.
A Great Northern train was
stalled for four hours near Grove
City, MINI. Many travellers
found shelter in theaters, serv-
ice stations, farm houses and
fire stations.
Snow-blocked roads in north
western Iowa, where drifts
ranged up to 10 feet, were being
reopened rapidly. Scores of ma
rooned automobiles still were on
roads and in bitches, but the mo-
torists managed to reach farms
and towns on foot.