Travel disrupted across Midwest

Powerful wind gusts created large snow drifts on many roadways, making navigating the slick conditions a challenge. Accidents and slide-offs were reported from Kansas to Michigan as the storm pushed east Friday.

Strong gusts off Lake Michigan caused problems for commuters in eastern Wisconsin. Chicago’s more than 280 snowplows salted and cleared the city’s streets, while commuters slogged through slush to get to their offices.

But in some locations, the storm didn’t live up to the hype. At the Pilot Flying J station near Interstate 29 in southwest Iowa, shift manager Kelly Malone said Friday his company had taken precautions by reserving seven rooms for employees at the nearby Super 8 Motel.

“We were prepared for the worst, but it didn’t happen that bad. To me it was just an average storm, but I’m a person who drives through anything,” he said. Iowa’s snow totals topped out at 9.7 inches near Sioux City.

Schools were closed in parts of Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

That included the University of Missouri, where classes were canceled two days in a row, one of the few times in its 174-year history. Chancellor Brady Deaton said Friday the road conditions in Columbia would make it difficult for many to reach campus.

But on Thursday, students trekked out to a local Wal-Mart, making a beeline for the aisles containing sleds and alcohol.

“This isn’t our usual Thursday noon routine,” Lauren Ottenger, a senior economics major from Denver, said as she stockpiled supplies.

Transportation officials in the affected states urged people to stay home on Thursday. The Kansas National Guard had 12 teams patrolling three state highways in Humvees overnight to rescue motorists stranded by the storm.

The storm brought some relief to a region that has been dealing with its worst drought in decades.

Vance Ehmke, a wheat farmer near Healy, Kan., said the nearly foot of snow was “what we have been praying for.” Climatologists say 12 inches of snow is equivalent to about 1 inch of rain, depending on the density of the snow.