Blizzard Snarls City

A St. Patrick's Day blizzard which ■ roared through three midwestern states I paralyzing traffic and knocking out utiliI ties, continued to buffet Washtenaw I County and southeastern Michigan early I today. A U.S. Weather Bureau spokesman at I Detroit Metropolitan Airport predicted I that the Ann Arbor área could have a toI tal accumulation of up to 16 inches of I snow bef ore the storm abates. More than I 10 inches had fallen by late Saturday I with a secondary low pressure front exI pected to dump another four to six I inches on Washtenaw County by dawn I today. The U.S. Weather Bureau at MetI ropolitan Airport officially termed the I storm a blizzard Saturday when winds I reached 45 miles an hour, temperatures I dropped below 20 degrees and the driving I snow continued to fall. A blizzard must I include winds of 35 miles an hour or I more, at least four inches of snow and a I temperature reading of 20 degrees or I less. Pólice agencies throughoiit the county were calling the storm the worst for traffic movement in history. Officers said there were virtually no personal injury h i g h w a y accidents throughout Saturday because the storm made speed impossible. Michigan State Pólice at the Ypsilanti post said all area highways were hazardous and 1-94 west of Ann Arbor was impssible. Michigan State Pólice at the Ypsilanti post said all area highways were hazardous and 1-94 west of Ann Arbor was impassable. 'TH teil you how bad it is," a state i trooper said. "We've got a string of I stalled cars 10 miles long on 1-94 extendI ing west f rom the Ann Arbor city limits. I We're trying to get snowmobiles out I there to rescue these motorists." US-23 nrfMon Ann Arbor to Whitmore I Lake ancjHjhton was also impassable I by mid-a,oon Saturday and several Ann Arbofpatrolmen who live in that área did not attempt the homeward trip when they completed their duty tours at 3 p.m. They remained at pólice headquarters in City Hall and were assigned to duty spots on the incoming shift. By noon Saturday Michigan State -Pólice at the Clinton post had ordered US12 (W. Michigan Avenue) between Saline and Clinton closed because of massive snow drifts whipped across the highway by 40-mile-an-hour winds. Troopers and city pólice from Saline worked throughout the day and evening hours digging out more than 40 cars virtually buried in the to wering drifts. Saline pólice erected wooden barriers across the portion of US-12 which passes through the city. The road is blocked off from the Ann Arbor-Saline Road east to S. State Road in Pittsfield Township. At that point Washtenaw sheriff's deputies put up additional barriers. Saline and Chelsea residents begas taking N stranded travelers into their homes as the storm became worse Saturday and several churches were opened to receive the motorists. Numerous power failures were reported in Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor Woods residents reported power failed there about 9 a.m. Saturday and had not been restored by late aftternood. Severaliiomes on W. Huron had been without power since 8 a.m. Saturday. Detroit Edison Co. reported it had every available man on the road but was having trouble reaching many outlying areas because of the drifts. "Every truck we have in Lima Township is stuck," Edward Hanselman, general service supervisor, reported at 6 p.m. He said County Road Commission trucks were assisting in efforts to get the Edison crews through. Hanselman said the Ypsilanti, Dexter and Lima Township areas appeared to have the most power failures but new reports of outages were still coming in. He said Ann Arbor was "in pretty good shape" early Saturday evening. There was no estímate of when power would be restored to the outlying areas. Edward Sherburne, Edison district manager, said power failures were widespread throughout Washtenaw and Livingston counties and about 30 crews were out throughout the area working on the downed lines. All we can do is "just keep pïugging away," he said. Neither man would hazard an estímate on the nümber of homes without power. The Ann Arbor Fire Department responded to more than a dozen calis for assistance Saturday although only one involved a fire. That carne from Concordia Junior College at 4090 Geddes Rd. northeast of the city where an electrical motor in the school's gymnasium had become overheated. Ann Arbor pólice, using every available vehicle to respond to calis for assistance, welcomed an offer by Army Reserve- Capt. Pawlik to provide a squad of men and four, four-wheeled drive army vehicles to assist in patrols. Pólice Capt. Thomas Minick and Duty Lt. Marvin Konkle used Capt. Pawlik and his men on shifts throughout Saturday. One of the army men's first duties involved manning barricades at S. Fourth Ave. and E. William St. where live power lines had fallen into the street. Pólice said there was virtually not a street in Arm Arbor where cars were not I stalled, boeking the single lane usuallyl open. Ypsilanti pólice said downtown streets I remained "barely passable" throughl Saturday but side roads were "very 1 ardous." The S. Huron St. exit of 1-94 1 southwest of the city was periodically I clogged with cars which were unable to I climb a hill, pólice said. In Ypsilanti, high winds blew out a I glass and metal wall of Eastern 1 gan University's five-story Phelps Hall. Sheriff's deputies said their patrol cars I were being restricted to main I fares because of impossible driving I ditions on county roads. At nightfall I Saturday deputies said all roads I throughout the county were "getting worse by the hour." State and city snow-clearing crews who went on duty before midnight Friday were still struggling through the drifts and the driving wind early this morning. They admitted they were fighting a losing battle as roads scraped clean were drlfted knee deep an hour later. Washtenaw ■ Avenue between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, a road which normally carries more than 40,000 cars a day and is rarely affecteH by storms, looked like a country lane by mid-afternoon j urday. Although periodically swept ty I plows, a single lane remained open for I east and westbound traffic much of the I time and traffic was reduced to a crawl. I Sheriff's deputies and Michigan State I Pólice issued a warning Saturday night I for scout cars to be on the alert for cars I using the "wrong" lanes of 1-94 near I Ann Arbor. Officers said with one lane I of the dual highway made impassable by I drifts, desperate drivers were swinging I into the opposite lanes in attempts to I reach an exit ramp. Officials said there was little doubt I that the storm is a record-setter, more I wide-spread and intense than the I zard of Feb. 24-25 in 1965. At that time I 10.3 inches of snow feil in the Ann I Ypsilanti área in a 24-hour period, I schools were closed and businesses shut I down. Local residents used skis J I snowshoes to make it to work Bi I weather observers said there had 'V I been a storm of that dimensión sincUfe I keeping of local records began.