DENVER – Two Colorado campers were found safe Friday after they got caught in the blizzard that struck the region this week.
Authorities say 20-year-old Michael Lee Gomez and 19-year-old Olivia Megan Schack, both of Arvada, were found near Ward, west of Boulder.
They had gone camping on Tuesday. The blizzard struck southeast Wyoming and northeast Colorado on Wednesday and Thursday, and the two took refuge in their car.
Effects of the storm were still being felt. Fluctuating electrical power knocked out a plant that treats wastewater from the inactive Gold King Mine in Southwest Colorado on Thursday night.
The agency said it did not believe downstream drinking water would be affected, although a long-term shutdown could affect fish and other aquatic life.
It was not clear how long the plant would be offline.
Operators have not been able to reach the plant because the access road is blocked by at least one avalanche, and it could take several days to clear the road, EPA spokeswoman Cynthia Peterson said.
The plant can be operated remotely and no one was at the site when the avalanche occurred.
The plant was installed after the EPA inadvertently triggered a wastewater spill from the Gold King in 2015, contaminating rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.
The storm knocked out electricity in several parts of Colorado. Thousands of homes and businesses were still without power Friday, mostly in the Denver area. Xcel Energy brought crews from other states to help with restoring service.
Colorado and Wyoming residents were still digging out Friday, but most schools and government offices reopened. Major interstates in both states were open although crews were still clearing snow from some secondary roads.
