St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - Some preliminary numbers gathered by the State Department of Homeland Security shows over 600 stranded motorists were rescued across southern Minnesota during the weekend blizzard.

In Steele County, where a Department of Transportation official estimated the size of some of the snow drifts at around 12 feet, over 200 people had to be rescued. Freeborn County reported the rescue of 82 stranded motorists, along with seven people who were members of two Union Pacific train crews on board freight trains that got stuck in deep snow drifts in the Ellendale area.  The photo below was taken on I-36 in that area.

I-35 in Steele County
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Both Mower and Winona Counties had over 50 rescues, while a preliminary tally from the Sheriff's Department found about a half-dozen stranded motorists were rescued in Olmsted County. State officials say some of the motorists stranded throughout the region spent over 24 hours stuck in their vehicles.

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