Some 1,000 people were stranded without heat or power in a small Arizona town near the Grand Canyon on Friday during a major winter storm that threatened to disrupt travel for millions as it moves east one day after the Thanksgiving holiday, Reuters writes.
The Town Council of Tusayan, just south of Grand Canyon National Park, declared a state of emergency early on Friday morning, citing the power outage and nearly two feet (60 cm) of snow that has made roads impassable.
“We are working to arrange emergency shelter at the National Park, in buses, and at other locations,” said Mayor Craig Sanderson said in a written 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,” Sanderson said.
More than 1,000 residents and tourists were stranded in Tusayan, along State Route 64, as of Friday evening, the mayor said and shelters had been set up inside the national park. The National Weather Service said on Twitter snow had been reported “all the way down at the bottom” of the Grand Canyon.
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