Chills Across U.S. As Ice Storm Heads East

Snow, Ice, Freezing Temps Have Killed At Least 46 In 7 States

(CBS/AP)  Power lines were down, highways were treacherous and spring-like temperatures were only a memory Tuesday in parts of the Northeast in the wake of the storm that earlier had plastered the Midwest and Plains with a heavy shell of ice.

The death toll from the storm was at least 46 in seven states.

The weight of the ice snapped tree limbs, shorted out transformers and made power lines sag, knocking out current to about 145,000 customers in New York state and New Hampshire on Monday, though service had been restored for roughly half of them by Tuesday morning.

"If you live here long enough, you just know the power's going to go out twice a year, at least. You don't worry about it," said Scott Towne, owner of Rondac Pet Services near Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where portable generators provided light and heat for about two-dozen dogs. "You make all the plans in advance that you can."

Scores of schools canceled classes or opened late Tuesday in New Hampshire and upstate New York in the Northeast and Oklahoma and Texas on the southern Plains.

The storm had largely blown out of New England by Tuesday morning, leaving up 10 inches of snow in western Maine.

A wave of arctic air trailed the storm, dropping temperatures into the single digits as far south as Kansas and Missouri. The 7 a.m. temperature Tuesday at Kansas City, Mo., was just 2 degrees, while Bismarck, N.D., had a reading of 16 below zero, with a wind chill of 31 below, the National Weather Service reported.

Cold air also was moving into the East, where temperatures have been far above normal in recent weeks and the ground has been bare of snow. Instead of skiers, the unseasonable weather has drawn out golfers and bicyclists.

Icy roads cut into Martin Luther King Jr. holiday observances from Albany, N.Y., to Austin, Texas, where officials in both states canceled gubernatorial inauguration parades Tuesday.

More power outages were possible in New Hampshire as wind battered ice-laden branches. "We are restoring some and adding more," Public Service Co. spokeswoman Mary-Jo Boisvert said Tuesday morning. Some New York customers might have to wait until Thursday, the utility National Grid estimated.

In hard-hit Missouri, the utility company Ameren said it would probably not have everyone's lights back on until Wednesday night. As of Tuesday morning, about 215,000 homes and businesses still had no electricity.

The White House said Tuesday that 34 Missouri counties and St. Louis had been declared a major disaster area, making federal funding available. A similar federal disaster declaration was approved Sunday for Oklahoma.

About 100,000 homes and businesses were still waiting for power Tuesday in Oklahoma, some of them waiting since the storm's first wave struck on Friday. Ice built up by sleet and freezing rain was 4 inches thick in places. The Army Corps of Engineers assigned soldiers to deliver 100 emergency generators to the McAlester area.

Customers in some rural parts of Oklahoma might have to wait until next week for service, said Stan Whiteford of Public Service Co. of Oklahoma.

"There are a lot of places where virtually everything is destroyed. In some cases, entire electric services will have to be rebuilt," he said.

Many trees in Muskogee, Okla., were snapped by the storm that sat over this region for three days, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella. Ice built up by sleet and freezing rain was 4 inches thick in places.

[bildooreilly]

Utility companies sure are shorthanded lately huh, seems like everywhere you look people are dying because of utility companies. Did the government pass some sort of law requiring them to have less workers or something, I mean come on we've always had power outages but they're leaving people up *** creek for weeks with no power in freakin subzero weather too, this *** is killing old people. But that's all good for the government....

[cantshutup]

by the way, the storm started on Friday afternoon...it is now Tuesday afternoon and i heard that THE DECIDER declared our region a natural disaster and fema is on the way...typical decider, typical...where's that fema moolah? i can see my breath in my living room and you can't get any fuel or supplies in Springfield now...are you waiting for the big die off????

[cantshutup]

Hi all! I live in Springfield Missouri and there are about 100,000 people without utilities due to the ice storm we just had...I'm glad I was able to stock up on food, water and gas before the storm but with no utilities and electric appliances we are freezing our butts off!!! There's a rumor that national guard is here but I haven't seen or heard them...Haven't heard squat from our mayor, not sure if we even have one...anyhow, the city should be handing out water for people who are still stuck in their houses and can't get out...All in all, everyone is being very patient...but there are still plenty of crazies out there, the bad weather roots them out of their houses...i had two men show up on my front porch in the middle of the night asking if they could warm their coffee up on our grill...sorry, cold coffee guys, don't want strange men starting fires on my front porch while I'm sleeping...Our utilities may be out till the end of the week and tonight the temps will be in the single digits...Not to be too self-centered, but this is nothing to what Katrina victims went through...I always think of those people and it makes me grateful we aren't in a flood and just dealing with ice...

[lindaco72]

The ice storm in Oklahoma seems to be almost a forgoten item by your news. The people here are just as important as the ones in Michigan. We have people here isolated, with no electric or water. We have over an inch on ice everywhere. In our town, we are also running out of gas, batteries and other supplies are also getting low. Oklahoma should not be just a footnote in your nwes story. We have people being evacuated from elderly housing and hospitals. This area was hit hard and you are almost ignoring this area.

[lioness41]

Some say God is doing it

You mean the Christian God? No. He won't even deign to be part of his own creation according to current Christian theological interpretations. I find such an irresponsible being hard to believe in.

some say there is no God but Mother Nature (whoever that is) [and She] is doing it

Whoever Mother Nature is? Your standing on Her, so at least you know she exists. She has rules for how everything affects everything else, for action and reaction; that's what the ecosystem is. Those rules...

some people say Man is doing it.

...in combination with Man's actions in continuing the profligate use of fossil fuels, is what is doing it.

[vancouverboo]

Bayless,
It depends on whom you ask.
Don't bother trying to ascertain the truth because different people see it differently.

Some say God is doing it, some say there is no God but Mother Nature (whoever that is) is doing it, and some people say Man is doing it.

Some people say it's not really happening.

Just find a crack to hide in.