Dozens of motorists stranded by a blizzard which has dumped more than 30cm of snow across the Midwestern United States have been rescued by authorities.
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In Wisconsin, one person was killed and several others injured on Sunday in a 40-vehicle interstate pile-up during white-out conditions.
The Minnesota National Guard rescued 30 people in Freeborn County on Saturday night, Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a tweet.
Sheriff's deputies rescued an additional 20 people.
Forty-eight people were sheltered at a Guard armory in Albert Lea, near the Minnesota-Iowa border, while the Owatonna armory housed 24 people stranded by the blizzard.
Governor Tim Walz declared a state of emergency late Saturday and ordered the Guard to help stranded motorists in Freeborn and Steele counties.
Conditions were so bad in southern Minnesota on Sunday state Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Joe Kelly urged residents to either stay home or if they are stranded on the road, to stay in their vehicle and wait for help.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation said Interstate 35 was closed from Owatonna to the Iowa border and I-90 from Dexter in Mower County west, due to poor driving conditions with blowing and drifting snow.
Many other highways in southeastern Minnesota were closed on Sunday morning.
The National Weather Service reported 33 cm of snow in Kasson, 29 cm in Albert Lea and 27.9 cm in Ellendale.
Australian Associated Press