DENVER—A powerful spring snowstorm that closed Denver’s airport and stranded numerous passengers barreled east Thursday, threatening the Plains states and the Midwest with heavy snow and strong winds.
Denver International Airport was closed around midday Wednesday because wind-whipped snow made it unsafe for planes to land or take off. The airport reopened about seven hours later, but more than 1,300 of Wednesday’s 1,500 scheduled flights were canceled.
Hundreds of people with suitcases and duffel bags stood or lay around the terminals, and airport employees handed out blankets and sleeping mats to people who were still stranded Wednesday night.
Alicia Bailey was headed back to Atlanta after a business trip in Colorado Springs. She had a treacherous, white-knuckle, four-hour drive to the airport only to learn her flight was delayed several times and then finally canceled.
“I had a nice little cocktail, and that calmed the nerves down because I was frazzled,” she said. “The way I look at it is, it’s all God’s work. You have to look at the glass half full. I can’t change it so I’m just going to tell my boss, ‘I’ll see you on Friday.'”
