Wednesday's News Reports

Sam Penrod (KSL News) at the Point of the Mountain said: "I've been near Thanksgiving Point for the last three hours, and the situation just keeps getting worse with the snow and wind. I would describe it as an emergency situation around the Point of the Mountain. Blowing snow makes it difficult to see and people are stuck in traffic, they are stuck in the snow, and it's getting to the point that there's really nowhere for people to go.Southbound traffic is beginning to improve and clear out, but conditions are still dangerous. It looks like it'll still be a couple hours before traffic is all clear"

again. About 7 p.m. "we traveled on S.R. 92 near the Micron IM Flash Plant, looking for a stranded school bus. (Evan and Eli's bus!) To me, personally, it was frightening, because the snow was drifting so fast, we couldn't see where we were going. We could see dozens of cars that drove off or slid off the road and were stranded.We finally turned around back to the freeway and had to use our GPS compass to drive directly west so we could stay on the road, because we couldn't see where we were going."

This is how people trying to drive home to Alpine described the scene."It's crazy. It's wild. I've never seen anything like it.""It's the worst snow I've ever seen in Utah."People have been running out of gas, sliding off the road, some are losing their patience and don't know where to go.I've talked to people who have spent five hours getting from Salt Lake to Thanksgiving Point. With the highway to Alpine and the roads to Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain closed, thousands of people really are stuck, waiting for the roads to reopen.Snowplows are out, but the problem is cars are stuck in the road, so it's nearly impossible to clear the roads.Over 200 students are stranded in three schools and one bus in Utah County. There are 165 students still holed up at Ridgeline Elementary School in Highland. Several of their parents have been able to get to the school with food and blankets, and they're ready to spend the night if they have to. For the kids there, it's a big adventure. Thirty to 40 students are still stuck on a bus about a half mile from Ridgeline.