School Kids No Longer Stranded After Blizzard
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(RUSH, Colo.) — Sixty children stranded in their school overnight by a powerful blizzard raking across the Colorado plains are safe, the principal told ABC News Wednesday.
The children attend the Miami-Yoder School district in Rush, Colo., about 38 miles east of Colorado Springs. Principal Sharon Webb said that as school was letting out Tuesday afternoon, strong winds and blowing snow made the roads too dangerous to drive on.
The decision was made to keep the students — ranging from preschool to high school — in the building for safety. Three school staffers, two bus drivers and three janitors volunteered to stay overnight to help, Webb said.
Webb said the students watched movies and played in the school gym, and that the overall mood was relaxed. By morning, the skies had cleared and the adults were fixing breakfast for the students. Parents also made their way to the school to take the kids back home.
“We have sunny, clear blue skies here now,” Webb told ABC News. “One preschooler said to me this morning, ‘Principal Webb, that was fun!’”
Those driving along Highway 94 between Colorado Springs and Rush were reportedly stranded overnight, and the highway was closed. About a dozen people spent the night at the Ellicot fire station in Callan, Colo., according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.
By morning, the highway was reopened and sheriff’s deputies patrolling the area believed they had reached all stranded drivers. There was no active search for anyone anymore, El Paso County Sheriff Lt. Jeff Kramer told ABC News.
Webb said school had been canceled for Wednesday.
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