Storm ices roads from southern Plains to Northeast
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Commuters faced treacherous roads Monday from the southern Plains to the Northeast as a storm spread ice and freezing rain that was linked to at least 10 deaths.
Thousands of people had no electricity and hundreds of weekend airline flights had been grounded because of the weather.
On Monday, ice storm warnings, freezing rain advisories, winter storm watches and winter weather advisories extended along a cold front from Texas to New Hampshire. The wintry weather was expected to continue through midweek.
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.
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard to aid communities affected by the storm.
In Chicago, poor weather and low visibility forced the cancellation of more than 400 flights Sunday at O'Hare International Airport, authorities said. About two dozen flights were canceled at Kansas City International Airport, and 13 were canceled at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis.
More than 200,000 customers were reported blacked out early Monday in Oklahoma alone and schools across the state were closed because of the slippery conditions. On Sunday, utilities had reported more than 130,000 customers blacked out in Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois and Kansas.
There was no way to estimate when power might be restored, said Oklahoma Gas & Electric spokesman Gil Broyles.
"It's a changing situation, almost minute by minute," Broyles said.
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.
Six other people also died on icy Oklahoma roads.
Travel was discouraged everywhere in Oklahoma, Randolph said.
Missouri also had hazardous roads.
"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.
A section of Interstate 70 in Missouri's Montgomery County was closed when a large power line fell across the highway. A nursing home in the county was without power, and its generator didn't work.
In the Northeast, many schools across upstate New York were closed or started late for the second Monday in a row because of icy roads. Last Monday, a mixture of snow, rain and sleet closed schools across a large area of upstate New York state.
Thousands of people had no electricity and hundreds of weekend airline flights had been grounded because of the weather.
On Monday, ice storm warnings, freezing rain advisories, winter storm watches and winter weather advisories extended along a cold front from Texas to New Hampshire. The wintry weather was expected to continue through midweek.
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.
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard to aid communities affected by the storm.
In Chicago, poor weather and low visibility forced the cancellation of more than 400 flights Sunday at O'Hare International Airport, authorities said. About two dozen flights were canceled at Kansas City International Airport, and 13 were canceled at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis.
More than 200,000 customers were reported blacked out early Monday in Oklahoma alone and schools across the state were closed because of the slippery conditions. On Sunday, utilities had reported more than 130,000 customers blacked out in Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois and Kansas.
There was no way to estimate when power might be restored, said Oklahoma Gas & Electric spokesman Gil Broyles.
"It's a changing situation, almost minute by minute," Broyles said.
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.
Six other people also died on icy Oklahoma roads.
Travel was discouraged everywhere in Oklahoma, Randolph said.
Missouri also had hazardous roads.
"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.
A section of Interstate 70 in Missouri's Montgomery County was closed when a large power line fell across the highway. A nursing home in the county was without power, and its generator didn't work.
In the Northeast, many schools across upstate New York were closed or started late for the second Monday in a row because of icy roads. Last Monday, a mixture of snow, rain and sleet closed schools across a large area of upstate New York state.
