(CNN) -- A historic winter storm whipped across the central Plains and Midwest early Tuesday, creating near whiteout conditions.
"Do not travel! Stay inside!" the National Weather Service warned. "Strong winds and blinding snow will make travel nearly impossible. This is a life threatening storm".
People seemed to be mostly heeding the call, if the view outside Deborah Garner's window at Pauls Valley Travel Center in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, was any indication. Although the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported several stranded motorists in the area, traffic was exceedingly light.
"We're dead. "I-35 is not busy at all. If I didn't have to work, I'd be at home," said Garner, the truck stop's manager who got stuck a couple of times during a 30-minute commute to work that took three times as long as it normally does.
"The wind is blowing and it's hard to see," she said. CNN
