Dec 12, 2007 2:05 pm US/Eastern
Midwest Reels From Powerful Ice Storm
Storm Blamed For At Least 27 Deaths
Hundreds Of Thousands Without Power
OKLAHOMA CITY (CBS News) ―
Lights came back on for some lucky people
Wednesday as utility crews struggled to repair power lines snapped by
the ice storm that had blacked out as much as a million homes and
businesses across the nation's midsection.
Repair crews and homeowners still faced a mixture of snow, sleet
and light rain that fell across parts of north Texas and central
Oklahoma during the morning.
"Temperatures will gradually climb into the low to mid 30s today
across the ice-encrusted Plains, and by tomorrow, readings may get
close to 40, which will help to melt most of the ice, but it'll be a
slow process," says CBS News meteorologist George Cullen.
By late Friday, however, another storm could bring 2 to 4 inches of snow to parts of the region.
Ice up to 1 ½ inches thick has glazed much of the central Plains
and Midwest this week. At least 27 deaths, mostly due to traffic
accidents, have been blamed on the storm system since it developed last
weekend.
Outside that affected area, forecasters said more snow, sleet and
freezing rain could develop Wednesday across the northern Ohio Valley
and into New England.
All told, since the storm hit over the weekend, an estimated half a
million customers are still without power across Oklahoma, reports CBS News correspondent Hari Sreenivasan.
Businesses are closed, traffic lights have turned to four way stops.
"We're relying on people to look after each other," Oklahoma City
Mayor Mick Cornett said. "At the end of the day, this comes down to the
strength of your people. ... People who have electricity ought to be
sharing it with people who don't."
"Crews of linemen are coming in from New Mexico, Louisiana, and
Texas, returning the favor after crews here went down from Louisiana
and Mississippi after Hurricane Rita and Katrina," reports Doug Warner of CBS affiliate KWTV in Oklahoma City.
Neighboring states from Missouri to Kansas to Iowa are thawing out and cleaning up as well, adds Sreenivasan
Around 228,000 customers were still blacked out in Missouri,
Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska. Kansas' tally had risen -- to
130,000 on Wednesday, up 15,000 from Tuesday -- as rural electric
cooperatives reported in and falling branches brought down more power
lines.
"We have a lot of trees down ... lots of infrastructure that needs
to be put up," said Al Butkus, a spokesman for the utility Aquila Inc.
in Missouri. "This is not going to be quick."
Most people decided to stay home and bundle up rather than go to shelters.
"We've got kerosene lamps and a fireplace," said Charita Miller of
Oklahoma City. "We're OK. We can't watch TV. Oh well, you can't have
everything. It's just me and my husband. My husband said `There's food
in the freezer."'
Sonya Kendrick, who spent Monday night at one of several
American Red Cross shelters set up in Oklahoma City, said a tree ripped
the electrical box off the side of her house, and she needed a warm
place for her three children.
"When I got in here yesterday, I was totally distraught. I was like
'Why me? Why me of all people?' I look at it this way, too: I'm not the
only one," Kendrick said Tuesday. "There's other people here that I got
to know in less than two days, literally. All of them have been through
the same thing, and everybody here just understands everybody."
Officials in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma had declared states of
emergency. President Bush declared a federal emergency in Oklahoma on
Tuesday, ordering government aid to supplement state and local efforts.
The 27 deaths blamed on the weather include 16 in Oklahoma, four in
Kansas, three each in Missouri and Michigan and one in Nebraska.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
