Kiowa County Division of Emergency Management Elaine Lindholm, Director 1305 Goff Street Eads, CO 80136 719-438-2288 MEDIA RELEASE – For Immediate Release December 29, 2006 For more information contact Kiowa County Division of Emergency Management Chris Sorensen, Public Information Officer 719-688-1976 (cell, not for public release) or chris@kiowaoem.com KIOWA COUNTY SERVICES RESTRICTED DUE TO STORM (EADS, COLORADO) The Kiowa County Division of Emergency Management has announced that plans are in place to open an emergency shelter for stranded motorists when local motel rooms are full. Most area roads are either officially or effectively closed, including Highway 287 from Lamar to Limon, due to the snow storm that began early this morning and is expected to continue to Sunday. The National Weather Service in Pueblo is predicting 19 to 35 inches of snow with winds gusting to 35 miles per hour. Winds tonight are expected to gust to 55 mph. The Kiowa County Courthouse will be closing at 10:30 Friday morning due to weather conditions. County road and bridge crews will NOT be clearing roads today; however employees are on standby at the county shops in Sheridan Lake, Eads and Haswell to plow paths in emergency situations. All non-essential travel is strongly discouraged. The Colorado State Patrol has confirmed one fatality in Kit Carson County as a result of the storm and poor road conditions. A vehicle was traveling west on Interstate 70 at 10:30 last night with the vehicle struck a person who was loading a car on to a tow truck. Motorists who become stranded before reaching shelter should NOT leave their vehicles. Run the motor for 10 minutes per hour to keep warm, and make certain the exhaust pipes are kept clear. Due to conditions, receiving assistance may take some time, but the safest course of action will be staying in your vehicle. Current road conditions can be found on the web at www.cotrip.org. Weather conditions are available at weather.gov/pub. Governor Bill Owens has declared a state-wide disaster emergency due to the ongoing blizzard conditions. The Colorado National Guard, which was activated during last week’s blizzard, will remain active to help fight this second onslaught of wintry weather. Earlier today, Owens also reactivated the State Emergency Operations Center to monitor conditions. General information about emergency services is available from the Kiowa County Division of Emergency Management, 719-438-2288, or the Kiowa County Sheriff’s Office, 719-438-5411. For immediate emergencies, dial 911. #30# Released 2006-12-29, 09:57 – Initial release – Also available electronically at www.kiowaoem.com