Record snow blankets North Carolina
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Bobby Corn uses his tractor to move two bales of hay across a snow covered pasture, near Fletcher, North Carolina, Friday, as he prepares to feed his cattle.
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RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- A winter storm blanketed parts of the Carolinas with record snow by Friday, making traveling hazardous, stranding motorists and closing schools.
Four traffic deaths were attributed to the storm in South Carolina, where state troopers reported more than 1,400 wrecks by noon. In the Charlotte area, county officials said they responded to 86 traffic accidents in a 24-hour period ending at 8 a.m.
The Army was forced to postpone Friday's planned departure of National Guard units to Iraq.
The snow came in two bands Thursday, one in the morning and the next at night, pushing snow accumulations to as much as 1.5 feet (0.45 meters) -- including at Rock Hill, South Carolina, 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Charlotte.
The snow, falling at the rate of 2 inches (5 centimeters) an hour at times in York County, South Carolina, piled into drifts up to 3 feet (0.9 meters) high.
"Off the main roads, anything but a 4-wheel drive is useless," York County Emergency Management Director Cotton Howell said. "This kind of snow is unprecedented in my memory."
Charlotte had up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) of snow by Friday morning, with a record 11.6 inches (29 centimeters) falling Thursday, almost double the old high mark for the date, set in 1926.
In South Carolina, the snow closed or delayed the opening of schools across the northern half of the state, and state offices were closed in seven counties, including York. The 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow that fell at the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport shattered the old record set in 1982.
The storm stranded travelers across the area; about 500 to 700 travelers were forced to spend the night at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, including many who had already boarded planes that were later grounded, spokeswoman Haley Gentry said.
Near Asheboro, as many as 400 cars were stranded on Interstate 85 for as long as five hours after two tractor-trailers jackknifed in separate accidents.
Troopers escorted some motorists to motels to get them out of the cold, but most people opted to stay with their cars until traffic began moving again before dawn, officials said.
Georgia got up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) of snow Thursday in northern counties and high winds brought down trees and power lines, knocking out electricity to as many as 61,000 homes. Power was restored to most customers by afternoon.
Copyright 2004 The
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