LITTLE ROCK — Few travelers could outwit the snowstorm that slammed Arkansas on Tuesday.
Sophie Bradford and Mike Gaspar were among those who tried and failed.
Bradford, who lives in the White County community of Floyd, anticipated the approaching storm and decided to leave early for Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field. She and her 20-year-old son, Nicholas, were on the way to the United Kingdom, where Bradford was born and raised and still has family.
The two made it to the airport without trouble. But Bradford’s luck started running out. She said she figured she could further beat the storm by being available on standby for an earlier flight.That didn’t work, either. And by the time her original flight was scheduled to depart at 7 p.m. it was canceled, and the weather by that time was making travel difficult, forcing taxis and hotel shuttles tostop running.
Shane Carter, the airport spokesman, was among Clinton National staff members helping passengers like Bradford and her son. Carter drove them and three others to a hotel for the night. Bradford was able to rebook her flight for Wednesday through American Airlines. Someone from the airport was picking up the Bradfords, since the shuttles still weren’t running, she said.
Bradford credited the airport and airline staff for being “friendly and pleasant” throughout her ordeal. “They kept their tempers. They were just really, really good.”
Gaspar’s story didn’t have the happy ending that Bradford’s did. The truck driver from Liberty, Mo., was driving an 18-wheeler loaded with goods from the PetSmart distribution center in Ottawa,Ill., with deliveries beginning at 3 a.m. Wednesday at the PetSmart store in west Little Rock and then stops at 7:30 a.m. in Fort Smith and 11 a.m. in Tulsa.
But instead of approaching Tulsa, at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, he was closing in on hour No. 8 idling outside the PetSmart in west Little Rock. It was closed with its power out. Even the drive leading to the loading dock behind the store was blocked by a fallen tree.
“I figured it was going to be the typical kind of Arkansas snow and not too bad,” Gaspar said as he waited while store officials figured out what to do.
Now he was left to second-guess himself: Perhaps he should’ve waited at the truck stop rather than risk getting stuck in the store parking lot and thought he had waited too long to return to the truck stop now. Gaspar laughed in recalling when the company for which he hauls asked him a few days ago which route he wanted on his next trip: Kansas City or Tulsa.
“I picked Tulsa because it was warmer,” he said. “But no matter what happens, someone’s paying me.”
Meanwhile, the heavy snow and ice that coated much of Arkansas on Christmas Day will continue to make travel difficult on the roads and in the air, officials said Wednesday.
Sunny skies led to some melting that helped provide a clear path on major roadways Wednesday, the first full day after up to 10 inches of snow fell over much of the state, but traffic crashes continued to cause backups along Interstate 30 between Benton andMalvern and on Interstate 40 between North Little Rock and Brinkley, said Randy Ort, a spokesman for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. He expects department crews to continue working through tonight.
Repeated traffic mishaps also occurred at U.S. 67/167 and Arkansas 440 on Wednesday, said Bill Sadler, the Arkansas State Police spokesman.
A power line fell across U.S. 67/167 at Searcy and traffic was diverted for several hours Wednesday night, he added.
And the prospect of bitterly cold conditions forecast for late Wednesday and early this morning - temperatures are forecast to go as low as 17 degrees - will cause a “significant refreezing” that likely will make travel treacherous on all roads until the temperatures rise, Ort said.
The large weather system that moved through the state Wednesday evening also created poor visibility and forced the diversion of several airline flights from Little Rock to Springfield, Mo., Tulsa and Dallas, Carter said.
About 30 passengers spentthe night at the airport, he said. Staff members shuttled others to hotels in airport sport utility vehicles, he said.
Airline travelers should expect continued delays as the effects of the east-moving storm continued to ripple through the system, Carter said. He advised fliers to check with airlines before going to the airport.
By Wednesday night many area hotels were filled with stranded travelers or local residents without power who wanted a warm place to sleep.
“We were pretty much full by noon,” said Arnette Gorman, assistant general manager of the Comfort Inn and Suites Downtown at the Clinton Presidential Center, a 150-room hotel at 707 Interstate 30. “This time of year it’s usually kind of slow.”
The hotel had the added attraction of allowing small pets, for a fee, Gorman said.
Even after the 120 rooms available at the Holiday Inn Express near Clinton National filled up Wednesday, front-desk clerk Jacob Oliver said he got 25 to 30 calls within minutes of beginning his shift at 2 p.m.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 12/27/2012