Oct. 27 - On what's supposed to be a day of rest, the eastern half of Colorado dug out Sunday from under feet-high snow drifts, basked in welcomed sunshine and surveyed the fallout from one of the most furious fall blizzards in recent history.

The storm that dumped up to 2 feet of snow - with drifts up to 15 feet on some highways - was blamed for the deaths of five people, including an 11-year-old boy from Kit Carson County. Andrew Gwyn went sledding with his dog Saturday afternoon and apparently got lost in the blizzard.

There were triumphant stories, too, including the helicopter rescue of four people from a snow-blown highway Sunday on the Eastern Plains. The two adults and two children had hugged to stay warm overnight and survived on two sandwiches among them.

One day after Front Range communities got dumped on - some with as much as 47 inches of snow in 24 hours - most major highways reopened, thousands of people stranded across the state got to go home, and snow shovels got a good workout. Eight people were still unaccounted for, officials said.

The storm blew in with 50-mph gusts Friday night and stuck around through Saturday evening, leaving 22 inches of snow in Denver and causing the reliving of tales of the Christmas Eve blizzard of 1982.

Gov. Roy Romer didn't want to rescind the state of emergency until today, but transportation officials promised that roads would be ready for this morning's rush hour after round-the-clock snow-removal efforts.

Romer, who surveyed a square of white, drifted plains from Denver to Pueblo to Boone and back on Sunday, said officials worried most about the stranded. Seven National Guard helicopters scoured Eastern Colorado for survivors, "flying country roads mile by mile," Romer said. "I think all of us were really worried about some people getting caught in drifts." Also patrolling the frozen roads and highways for survivors were two Colorado State Patrol planes and two helicopters from the Fort Carson Army post.

Bill Vidal, executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation, accompanied Romer during his survey aboard a National Guard helicopter. Vidal said this storm was the worst he'd seen in 22 years with the agency.

"I can tell you that we've never had a storm that's hit the state like this one," Vidal said.

The toughest cleanup was the stretch of Interstate 25 from south of Denver to Colorado Springs, where more than 450 cars were piled up on Saturday, caught in white-out conditions. On Sunday, drivers headed north out of Monument could hear the thumping of Huey helicopters above them while they sat stalled behind stalled tractor-trailer rigs.

Between 700 and 1,000 vehicles were abandoned along the length of I-25 during the blizzard, Vidal said. On Sunday, private wreckers still were removing about 350, he said.

Sunday was also a day for political second-guessing, as Denver Mayor Wellington Webb reiterated his plans to clear the city's streets. At an afternoon news conference, he sidestepped the issue of Pena Boulevard, where 30 cars, numerous buses and 100 people were stranded Friday night and into Saturday.

Webb decided Saturday to concentrate snowplowing within the core city, leaving Pena Boulevard - the gateway to Denver International Airport - defenseless against snow drifts.

"I'm the mayor, so I'm always in a tough spot," he said Sunday. "That's the kind of job I have." Romer defended his political ally, saying making road closures is a tough call.

"I understand that," he said. "Look, I wish we had blocked off I-25 from Colorado Springs to Denver earlier, because we now have to take off all these trucks. So you have to be very thoughtful about the other person's problems when they're in the midst of one of these things." Romer suggested that officials reconsider the snow plan for Pena Boulevard, adding snow fences and rethinking the jurisdictional problems of an artery that runs through both Denver and Aurora, and also is part of the state highway system.

At DIA, thousands of weary travelers lined up for tickets out of town, arriving at the airport early in hopes of catching perhaps half of the regularly scheduled flights leaving from the few gates that had been cleared of snow.

DIA's terminal and concourses served as sleep-over areas during the blizzard when more than 3,000 were stuck there after the closure of Pena Boulevard. "People here have really bonded," said Nedra Morose of Missouri, who spent two nights at DIA.

Most major highways were reopened Sunday, with the exception of Interstate 70 from Watkins to the Kansas border. Five-foot drifts still blocked Limon, CDOT's Dan Hopkins said. Thirteen state highways also remained closed Sunday, all in southeastern Colorado and some with drifts of 15 feet, he said.

Andrew Gwyn, 11, survived a night in the blizzard but died Sunday morning after being taken by Flight for Life to Children's Hospital in Denver.

Andrew left his farmhouse near Stratton on Saturday afternoon to go sledding with his dog, said Kit Carson County Sheriff Robert Thiede Jr. The dog later returned home without the boy. Andrew's parents, Donna and David Gwyn, called the sheriff's office about 3:45 p.m. Saturday, but authorities couldn't reach their home because of blizzard conditions.

After a search Sunday morning, Andrew was found in the snow about 1 1/2 miles from his home, Thiede said. Paramedics found signs of life and tried to warm him. He was taken to Stratton, where the helicopter met paramedics.

The Colorado Springs-Pueblo area was hard hit by the storm, which gave the southeastern part of the state its last punch Saturday afternoon.

El Paso County sheriff's officials on Sunday were investigating the deaths of three people. A 60-year-old man was found in his car just northeast of Colorado Springs, they said. Sheriff's deputies were unsure whether he died of freezing, carbon monoxide poisoning or a heart attack.

Two people were found in a car near Widefield, the sheriff's office said. They believe both died of carbon monoxide poisoning while stranded in the snow.

Power was finally restored Sunday morning to 75,000 residents of Pueblo who had been in the dark since 9:30 p.m. Friday. The Colorado Springs Airport, closed Saturday, reopened Sunday morning. And 250 people finally left an emergency shelter at the Colorado Institute of Mental Health in Pueblo on Sunday afternoon. They had been there since Friday when the storm hit.

The fifth death was Barton Carlisle, 26, from Cheyenne, whose body was found by a farmer out working chores at 11 a.m. Saturday. Carlisle was traveling on Weld County Road 77 nine miles south of the Wyoming line when he ran off the road into a ditch, said Scott Nathlich of the state patrol.

Carlisle left his car running and died of carbon monoxide poisoning because the tailpipe was buried in the snow, Nathlich said. He was 200 feet from the farmer's home, he said.