Ice Storms

Midwest on alert for ‘a lot more’ from ice storm
ICE STORMS >>
ST. LOUIS - A wintry storm caked the center of the nation with a thick layer of ice Monday, blacking out more than 600,000 homes and businesses, and more icy weather was on the way. At least 15 deaths in Oklahoma and Missouri were blamed on the conditions, with 13 of them killed on slick highways. The National Weather Service posted ice and winter storm warnings Tuesday for parts of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois. Missouri declared an emergency on Sunday and put the National Guard on alert. A state of emergency was declared Monday for the entire state of Oklahoma, said Michelann Ooten, spokeswoman for the state Department of Emergency Management. Fifty industrial generators and three truckloads of bottled water were to be shipped to blacked-out areas. Missouri had declared an emergency on Sunday and put the National Guard on alert. Winter weather warnings and advisories were also posted in the Northeast as far as New Hampshire. The wintry weather was expected to continue through midweek. Portions of Interstate 35 and Interstate 44 were shut down early Monday afternoon in Oklahoma City after ice-laden power lines collapsed and fell into the roadways. Tulsa International Airport had no power for about 10 hours and halted flight operations for the day, and most morning flights at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City were canceled because of icy runways. In Chicago, poor weather and low visibility forced the cancellation of more than 400 flights Sunday at O’Hare International Airport, authorities said. Several flights were canceled at Kansas City International Airport and at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis. 'A lot more' coming? Oklahoma was especially hard hit, as ice-laden trees crashed onto homes and power lines. Schools were closed across the state and some hospitals were relying on backup power generators. “We expect a lot more (ice), especially with another round of freezing precipitation that will be making its way through this afternoon,” said Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Michelann Ooten. “We are getting ready to deploy some generators to some communities that requested them, and we may be calling on the National Guard for transport.” Ice accumulations already a half-inch thick were reported Sunday in parts of Oklahoma and could build up to as much as an inch thick in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, the weather service said. “This is a big one, we’ve got a massive situation here and it’s probably going to be a week to 10 days before we get power on to everybody,” said Ed Bettinger, a spokesman for Public Service Company. “It looks like a war zone.” Oklahoma utilities said about 500,000 homes and businesses were blacked out Monday, mostly in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas. There was no way to estimate when power might be restored, said Oklahoma Gas & Electric spokesman Gil Broyles. “If you do the math, probably one out of three Oklahomans has no electricity at this point,” said Broyles. The sound of branches snapping under the weight of ice echoed through Oklahoma City neighborhoods. “You can hear them falling everywhere,” Lonnie Compton said Monday as he shoveled ice off his driveway. Greyhound bus service was disrupted, stranding passengers, some of whom spent the night in a shelter in a church in downtown Tulsa. They were joined by some local residents who had no heat. The Oklahoma City suburb of Jones, a town of 2,500 people, had very low water pressure because there was no electricity to run well pumps, and firefighters said an early morning fire destroyed most of the local high school. On ice-covered Interstate 40 west of Okemah, Okla., four people died in “one huge cluster of an accident” that involved 11 vehicles, including a tractor-trailer rig, said Highway Patrol Trooper Betsey Randolph. All 11 vehicles burned, she said. Eight other people also died on icy Oklahoma roads, and Missouri had one death on a slippery highway. In addition, a transient died of hypothermia in Oklahoma City, the state medical examiner’s office said. Missouri, upstate N.Y. problems In Missouri, Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency Sunday, calling out the state’s National Guard to aid communities hit by the storm. “We are only just beginning to see the devastation from this series of storms,” Blunt said on Monday. Missouri utilities and electrical cooperatives reported more than 100,000 customers had no power Monday, and the utility AmerenUE said roughly 11,000 were blacked out in southern Illinois. On Sunday, blackouts affecting thousands of customers also were reported in parts of Illinois and Kansas. In the Northeast on Monday, many schools across upstate New York were closed or started late because of icy roads. Last Monday, a mixture of snow, rain and sleet closed schools across a large area of upstate New York state. Back

Ice Storms

Midwest on alert for ‘a lot more’ from ice storm