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Heavy snowfalls blight US towns Midwest shivers as storm passes
(about 5 hours later)
Blizzards in the Midwest of the US have brought record snowfalls, burying cars, closing schools and causing power cuts. A winter storm that brought record snowfall to large parts of the US is dying out but many states are still seeing below-freezing weather.
Parts of the Midwest have been among the worst-hit regions, and saw some 45cm (18in) of snow on Thursday.
Emergency crews are still searching for 16 elk hunters stranded in northern Arizona since earlier this week.
Freezing temperatures will continue in many areas on Friday and another storm system is brewing in the west.
Blizzards have been blamed for 16 deaths this week, most in traffic accidents.
Wisconsin declared a state of emergency after being hit by up to 48cm (19in) of snow on Wednesday, while Iowa recorded its worst snowfall for 20 years.Wisconsin declared a state of emergency after being hit by up to 48cm (19in) of snow on Wednesday, while Iowa recorded its worst snowfall for 20 years.
Illinois was also hit, and in Arizona, in the south-west, up to 30 hunters have been stranded by a snowstorm. Searchers headed out again on Thursday in northern Arizona to look for elk hunters trapped when up to 3ft of snow fell on Monday and Tuesday.
Blizzards, which are heading eastwards, have been blamed for at least 16 deaths, most in traffic accidents. A local sheriff's spokesman told the Associated Press news agency the priority was to find them before the next storm hits, possibly at the weekend.
Trapped Rescuers are looking for 16 people in five parties. Some 50 people have already been rescued.
In one such incident, a 28-year-old woman was killed in Omaha, Nebraska, on Tuesday night when a lorry ploughing snow in a car park backed into her, police said. "The storm just hit when everybody was out in the field," sheriff's spokesman Gerry Blair told AP.
In Iowa, meteorologists recorded the highest snowfall there since 1988, which left motorists stranded.
Meanwhile in Madison, the University of Wisconsin was forced to cancel classes for the first time since 1990.
In Illinois, gusts of 80km/h (50mph) created snow drifts of 4.5m (15ft), the National Weather Service said.
In northern Arizona, officials say they are searching for some 25-30 hunters trapped by up to 3ft of snow that fell earlier this week.
Across the country, flights have been cancelled, roads closed and power cut off to thousands of people.
The snowstorm is forecast to continue eastward on Thursday, bringing 3 to 5 inches of snow to New England and the north-east.