BLIZZARD OF 1979 BLANKETS THE CITY

Snow removal became a major problem after the 1979 blizzard. The last major area of Cape Girardeau to be cleared was along Good Hope. This photo was taken Feb. 28 in the 600 block of Good Hope.

Cape Girardeau was virtually paralyzed after the 24-inch snowfall in 1979. Police, fire and ambulance vehicles were trapped inside their buildings. Cars parked along city streets were buried under the white stuff.

For Cape Girardeau area residents, nothing can compare with the Great Blizzard of Feb. 25, 1979.

The massive winter storm blanketed the area with 24 inches of snow, making travel all but impossible.

"Cape Girardeau is paralyzed," then-executive editor John Blue wrote in a front page story in the Southeast Missourian two days later.

"Nothing moves but emergency vehicles and a few with four-wheel drives authorized by police. All others are subject to arrest," Blue wrote.

"Everywhere there are snow drifts, man-made or nature-made. The man-made ones are a canyon down the streets, allowing one-way traffic for police and other emergency vehicles. The nature-made ones are drifts 6 and 8 feet high. Cars are buried."

The newspaper reported there were "blinding torrents" of snow. "Vision was no more than 50 yards at times and rarely could trees 100 yards away be seen, then only dimly as through a veil," Blue wrote.

Travel on streets became impossible. Snowplows even bogged down. "And the snow continued, hour after hour, in those tremendous sheets out of the sky, slanting and blowing on the wings of the wind," Blue wrote.

The Cape Girardeau County Commission issued an order prohibiting the opening of non-essential businesses and limiting traffic to emergency or essential services.

Roofs and awnings on a number of homes and businesses collapsed beneath the weight of the snow. So did the bubble, an air-supported athletic facility at Southeast Missouri State University.

Damage ran into the millions of dollars. Two deaths in Cape County were blamed on the blizzard.

National Guardsmen flew helicopters on numerous emergency missions, providing a life-line to safety for stranded residents. Many homes in rural areas were without electricity, heat or telephone service for several days.

Neighborhood volunteers pitched in at Southeast Missouri Hospital because most of the regular employees couldn't get to work.

It was not until three days after the storm hit that things began returning to normal. By then, streets were passable -- massive tons of snow having been plowed -- and businesses were reopening.

"It was a storm without precedent," the Southeast Missourian editorialized in its March 1, 1979, edition. "It will be the yardstick for other storms for decades to come and from now on those who went through it will be telling their grandchildren of the Blizzard of '79."