Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 18, 1993 TAG: 9303180145
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: KNOXVILLE, TENN. LENGTH: Medium
RAIN, FOG, GROUND SEARCHES IN SMOKIES
Helicopter rescue efforts in the Great Smoky Mountains were grounded Wednesday by rain and fog as rangers searched the snowy slopes on foot for as many as 45 stranded campers and hikers.The death toll from the weekend storm that paralyzed much of the Eastern Seaboard reached 232, and searches have been suspended for 32 crewmen from a sunken freighter off Nova Scotia and 16 mariners lost in waters around Florida.
An official said he hoped helicopters would be able to resume flying over the mountains in and near Great Smoky Mountain National Park on the Tennessee-North Carolina state line this morning to retrieve people stuck by record snows.
Some hikers have waved off helicopters previously, preferring to take their chances. They no longer have that option, Shelton said.
"We'll go get 'em out whether they want to come or not," Shelton said. "The park has ordered everybody out."
Rangers on snowshoes hoped to reach shelters along the Appalachian Trail, National Park Service spokesman Bob Miller said. "We hope to find some people there and verify their medical condition," he said.
Miller said three parties of hikers had filed itineraries at trail heads where they entered the park. A fourth group of hikers was attempting to walk the entire Appalachian Trail; they weren't required to file itineraries, he said.
Elsewhere, the storm contributed to a shutdown of 5,000 automatic teller machines, affecting more than a million cardholders around the country.
The machines, owned or operated by Dallas-based Electronic Data Systems Corp., ground to a halt Saturday after part of the roof and walls at its New Jersey computer center collapsed under the pressure of heavy snow.
Keywords:
FATALITY