Weather

About 1,500 buffalo from a herd used in "Dances With Wolves" escaped from a ranch by walking up and over fences covered by towering snowdrifts. Spurred by fears the animals will spread disease, Gov. Bill Janklow asked volunteers on snowmobiles to help round up the buffalo. Most of the animals were nudged about 25 miles toward home Tuesday, although at least 200 refused to cross a road that served as a major barrier between them and the ranch.

Chunks of ice hurtled from skyscrapers and tree limbs crashed onto power lines Tuesday as Texas thawed a bit from a storm that left at least 13 dead and plunged thousands into darkness. The storm spread rain, ice and snow from Southern California to Louisiana, and funneled icy air deep into Texas.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is offering special help to flood and snow victims in counties that have been declared disaster areas. Of the 13 Idaho counties named disaster areas, five are in the northern part of the state; Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Latah and Shoshone.

Kyle Hilde had to shovel this path to get to the shed where he keeps his snowblower in Moorehead, Minn. Photo by Associated Press

Peter Haumesser helps his dog Maxwell take a walk Sunday in Hamburg, N.Y. Photo by Associated Press

Snowstorms have killed 16 people in far western China and more than 50,000 soldiers and others have been mobilized to help rescue trapped people and livestock. Six people have died since Thursday in the Ili and Bayingolin prefectures of Xinjiang province, the state-run Xinhua news agency said Friday. Ten people died in the heaviest snowstorms in Altay, on Xinjiang's northern border, in 30 years, it said without elaborating. Up to 1,000 families and 100,000 animals are trapped by snow and floodwaters and losses have reached $1.2 million, it said. More than 2,000 farm animals died and nearly 500,000 cannot find food. A 50,000-strong rescue team has been formed and grain, animal feed and fodder are being transported to snow-hit areas.

John Birdzell stands atop a 14-by-100 foot snowdrift in North Manden, N.D. Photo by Associated Press

Bundled up in boots and a coat, Gabby, an Italian greyhound, walks in St. Paul, Minn., with its owner Paul Amble. Photo by Associated Press

California Highway Patrol officer Cynthia Koolis struggles to keep from being blown over by the wind that toppled the big rig behind her Monday in Fontana, Calif. The trucker wasn't hurt in the Interstate 15 accident. Photo by Associated Press

Brilliant sunshine broke across Northern California on Sunday as the surge of water pouring out of the mountains breached more levees and turned additional people into refugees.

French trains were diverted to pick up stranded skiers and German rail stations converted to homeless shelters Sunday as the death toll from Europe's longest cold spell in a decade passed 230. Seven more deaths were reported across the region and weather forecasters said a new blast of frigid air would hit Monday.

The death toll rose to 65 on Sunday from a rainy torrent that sent mudslides and floods crashing through communities in southeastern Brazil. Authorities said 21,000 people were left homeless. Storms washed out bridges, flooded highways and swelled rivers, causing them to overflow their banks. Electrical power was knocked out to thousands. The rains were in a sixth day Sunday in Minas Gerais state and show no signs of letting up. "Our information is that the rains are going to continue," police Lt. Andrea Mara said in a telephone interview from the state capital of Belo Horizonte. Across the state, people were seeking shelter in churches and schools, while hospitals were filled with the injured. Floodwaters contaminated drinking water in some towns. The rainy season in Minas Gerais - December and January - has been far wetter than normal. Weather officials said the state has received more rain in the first days of 1997 than in all of January last year.

Thick fog virtually shut down Logan Airport on Sunday as college students and other travelers were returning from extended holiday vacations. Fog also affected airports in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Air traffic controllers in Boston declared a ground hold at 11:45 a.m., limiting landings to airplanes with sophisticated instrument systems. That meant only two or three flights per hour were landing through the afternoon. Dozens of cancellations were reported at New York's Kennedy Airport, and there were delays of up to 60 minutes in departures and arrivals at La Guardia and Newark Airports. At Philadelphia International Airport, two airplanes were forced to circle above the fog for a while Sunday morning, but most fog delays were minor. In Windsor Locks, Conn., thick fog forced delays of up to an hour at Bradley International Airport. At least two flights were diverted to Syracuse, N.Y., although nine flights were diverted to Bradley from other New York airports, said operations specialist Mike Ross

After a series of storms, Jerry Panks lost his garage, a truck and a 1956 Thunderbird when the floodwaters of the Applegate River cut a new channel under his house in Murphy, Ore., west of Grants Pass. Photo by Associated Press

Lee Holt canoes Saturday through Modesto, Calif. Photo by Associated Press

Tens of thousands of northern California residents remained stranded Saturday as swollen rivers taxed the state's vast flood-control system, causing levees to break and release torrents of muddy water into rural communities in the state's Central Valley. President Clinton approved federal disaster assistance for 37 counties in California and for 13 in Idaho as people throughout the Pacific Northwest tried to mop up after more than a week of stormy weather. Warm winds and heavy rain melted the winter snowpack in the region's mountains, turning cliffs into waterfalls and flooding valleys. The storms were blamed for 23 deaths in a five-state area.

Water cascades over a road Friday after a spillway broke at Lake Don Pedro in Northern California. Photo by Associated Press

Spokane County Sheriff John Goldman, left, walks with Gov. Mike Lowry through Spokane Produce on Friday. The business was heavily damaged by this week's flooding. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Melting ice on Lake Fernan was making Fernan Village residents nervous as water started creeping onto their lawns Friday. "If this stuff melts and we get a thaw, we're in trouble," said Fernan Village Mayor Marilyn Tierney.