Hundreds stranded without heat or power in Arizona town amid winter storm

[left-of-center2012]

Hundreds of people were left without heat and power in an Arizona town following a winter storm on Friday. Reuters reported that 1,000 people didn't have heat or power in the town of Tusayan, which is just south of Grand Canyon National Park.

Tusayan's town council also reportedly declared a state of emergency Friday morning due to the lack of power and almost two feet of snow that made roads unusable.

“We are working to arrange emergency shelter at the National Park, in buses, and at other locations,” Mayor Craig Sanderson told the wire service in a statement. “We are working with the County Emergency Management team, Arizona Department of Transportation, (Arizona Public Service) and the National Park Service with a priority on clearing roads.”

He also told Reuters that more than 1,000 people were stranded along State Route 64 as of Friday evening.

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/472463-hundreds-stranded-without-heat-or-power-in-arizona-town-amid

[redwitch]

1. How awful to be stranded in a car during the storm!

I hope everyone gets to shelter and warmth soon.

[Hortensis]

3. We were, on a mountain highway overlooking the LA basin,

bumper to bumper in traffic coming down from the ski resorts. We were with friends in an RV who took in all it would hold, including some motorcyclists and other young guys in the back of a pickup, and...party time. RVs are definitely the place to be if you must be snowed to a stop.

[braddy]

2. It sure is nice to be prepared, some of those people will have busted pipes and toilets and even

frozen canned goods and other household liquids.

[Hortensis]

5. Just looked and Tusayan is at 6600 feet. It's going to

be an odd household that isn't routinely prepared for this. Same for the hotel(s) that serve tourists until winter slows down their influx. The problems will be on the roads and campgrounds.

[braddy]

7. Many people are not prepared for the machine stopping, it is the same with their nice cars.

In Minnesota and Wisconsin I saw people jump into their cars with tennis shoes and a light jacket in sub zero winter because they seemed oblivious to the possibility that their wonderful car could stop running and that the heater wouldn't run, and that if they stepped out into the snow at 0 degrees that their tennis shoes and blue jeans would be killing or crippling them pretty quickly.

The same goes for their homes, they don't think of the canned food or know how to drain their water pipes or the water heater.

[braddy]

4. It is currently 18 degrees there and will be colder tonight, I hope the people in their cars thought

to keep sleeping bags in their trunks.

[Hortensis]

6. Yes! I insist on one in ours. My husband was just

complaining yesterday about having to take its handle to move it sideways to make room for something. Also a bag with sundries, like batteries and battery charger that runs off the car battery. And water that we have to keep replenishing. Doesn't cost us anything to keep it there instead of inside.

[braddy]

8. I'm always prepared to spend a comfortable week in my car at sub zero or desert temps and I know

what people need to carry, but for me the ultimate car travel rule is, have a comfortable generous sized sleeping bag with extra blankets to stuff in it or in Florida a mosquito head net and a cotton sheet for summer sleeping.

The point is to have the cozy nesting material so that in a breakdown or blizzard you can calmly go to sleep and worry about everything in the morning when the sun is out and traffic is about.