Storm sends Coloradoans to shelters

DENVER, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A winter storm's high winds and blowing snow closed Colorado highways and sent nearly 2,900 people to high-country shelters.

Some 950 people were housed Sunday in the Silverthorne Recreational Center shelter, and 550 stayed at Summit County Middle School in Frisco, Colo., Red Cross spokesman Robert Thompson told the Denver Post. The Red Cross tallied 2,872 at 12 shelters.

Wind gusts up to 70 mph closed portions of Interstate 70 around Floyd Hill, Vail and Georgetown, the paper said.

"I really can't venture a guess how long I-70 will remain closed," Rod Mead, operations manager for the Colorado Traffic Management Center, told the paper. "It is all weather dependent. The crews need to do avalanche control."

Travelers were advised to use U.S. 285 and U.S. 24, or for those headed to states west of Colorado, Interstate 80 through Wyoming or U.S. 50 through Gunnison to Grand Junction.