Ice storm blamed for 6 deaths, power failures, canceled flights
Pastor Dale Morgan
Ice storm blamed for 6 deaths, power failures, canceled flights*
* Story Highlights
* NEW: Worst could be yet to come with warnings from Texas to
Pennsylvania
* Six traffic deaths were blamed on icy roads in Oklahoma
* Ice nearly an inch thick coated roads and tree limbs
* Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency
ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- An ice storm slickened roads and sidewalks,
grounded hundreds of flights, and cut power to tens of thousands Sunday
in a swath from the Southern Plains to the Great Lakes as even colder
weather threatened.
This truck found itself in the wrong spot during an ice storm in Joplin,
Missouri, Sunday.
more photos »
The wintry weather was expected to continue through midweek, and ice
storm warnings stretched from Texas to Pennsylvania.
"[Monday] may be even more of a dilemma than today because we're going
to get even a little bit more colder," said John Pike, a meteorologist
in the Weather Service's office in Norman, Oklahoma.
Six traffic deaths were blamed on icy roads in Oklahoma.
Roads along much of the state were considered slick and hazardous by the
Oklahoma Department of Transportation, with two sections of Interstate
40 being closed temporarily.
More than 130,000 customers lost power in Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois
and Kansas, utilities reported.
Some communities in Missouri reported ice as thick as three-quarters of
an inch, the National Weather Service said.
"The rural roads are pretty rough, the main highways are pretty clear,
and the overpasses are slick," said John Christiansen, emergency
management director in Missouri's St. Clair County.
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency and activated the
National Guard.
O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, one of the nation's
busiest, canceled more than 400 flights. The airports in Kansas City,
Missouri, and St. Louis, Missouri, also canceled several flights.
Places of worship across the region called off services because of the
slippery roads. Roads in all but the southeastern corner of Oklahoma
were considered slick and hazardous, the state Department of
Transportation said.
Chicago officials used the city's emergency phone system to deliver
recorded warnings to about 2,700 elderly residents that sidewalks were
icy and slippery.