Denver airport reopens as US Rockies reel from heavy snow

Tens of thousands of people were without power on Monday and flights were grounded at Colorado’s Denver International Airport for much of the day as the region dug out from one of the most powerful late-winter blizzards in some two decades. The heavy storm punished parts of Colorado and Wyoming with up to 3 feet of snow and wind gusts of 45 miles per hour over the weekend, stranding motorists on major highways, and knocking down trees and power lines. Denver International Airport, which halted all inbound and outbound flights on Sunday afternoon after 2 feet of snow fell on runways, reopened them shortly after 3 p.m. on Monday. Airport staff gave blankets and water to the roughly 500 passengers that were left stranded at the airport overnight, the Denver Post reported. At one terminal, employees of a McDonald’s restaurant passed out free food, the paper said.<br/>