Schools in eastern Wyoming and northern Colorado remained closed Tuesday for a second day and roads were still impassable in the aftermath of a blizzard that pummeled the region with record snowfall.

Crews didn�t expect to reopen some highways for another day, though a portion of Interstate 25 reopened south of Wyoming�s capital, Cheyenne, for the first time since Saturday.

The weekend storm dumped over 30 inches (76 centimeters) of snow on Cheyenne, snarling streets with 4-to-5-foot (1.2-to-1.5-meter) drifts that even four-wheel drive trucks couldn�t clear. Many side streets will remain impassable for cars for several more days, city officials warned.

Firefighters used an enclosed snow machine called a snowcat to get doctors to an operating room for a patient�s emergency surgery.

�Those guys are heroes,� said one of the surgeons, Elias Kfoury. �The first responders and how they stepped up to the occasion essentially resulted in saving somebody�s life.�

Volunteers using snowmobiles helped other people get to a hospital for crucial treatment, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported.

It was the city�s worst blizzard since at least 1979.

Highway crews resorted to using bulldozers in addition to plows to move snow off interstates, including I-80 between Cheyenne and Laramie.

The 50-mile (80-kilometer) stretch includes the highest point along the coast-to-coast route, an 8,640-foot (2,600-meter) pass called the Summit that�s known for hairy weather even in less intense storms.

Schools remained closed Tuesday as far north as Casper, where city officials were still working to clear wind-driven snow, the Casper Star-Tribune reported.

The Wyoming Legislature, which has been meeting for a month in an annual session already disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, didn�t convene for the second day in a row.

(AP)