Chills Across U.S. As Ice Storm Heads East

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

(CBS/AP)  For a fourth cold night, Mary Miller's family had no electricity and no heat. They're using a propane stove to cook and stay warm. The only light comes from an extension cord connected to the pickup truck.

"Do you have any idea when you're going to get power back?" asked Cobiella.

"They said anywhere from three to four days to maybe a week or so," said Miller.

"Emergency responders are having a hard time getting to residents where their services are needed because of trees and power lines in the road," said Pittsburg County, Okla., Undersheriff Richard Sexton.

More than 200,000 customers in Michigan also lost power and about 86,000 of them were still blacked out Tuesday.

Waves of freezing rain, sleet and snow since Friday had been blamed for at least 17 deaths in Oklahoma, eight in Missouri, eight in Iowa, four in New York, five in Texas, three in Michigan and one in Maine.

Elsewhere, Washington state's Puget Sound area, known for off-and-on drizzle rather than freezing winter weather, was hit by another round of snow Tuesday, snarling traffic and closing schools for more than 380,000 students. The Oregon Legislature delayed hearings and sessions until afternoon because of the weather. Even Texas got hit.

"They'll be skating at the Alamo today as sleet and freezing rain is icing over some southern sections of Texas, where the normal high is around 60," said CBS News meteorologist George Cullen, who called that a rare event.

"The areas of Oklahoma and Missouri which are covered in ice will see some sunshine today but there won't be much melting going on, as the mercury will barely get out of the low 30s," Cullen added. "Elsewhere, it's going to get real bad in upstate New York. Where thick ice built up yesterday from Buffalo to Syracuse, today strong winds could tear down some ice laden trees, and to make matters worse, heavy lake effect snow will be piling up and whipping over the ice."

In California, three nights of freezing weather had destroyed up to three-quarters of the state's $1 billion citrus crop, prompting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare a state of emergency. Other crops, including avocados and strawberries, also suffered damage.

"This is one of those freezes that, unfortunately, we'll all remember," said A.G. Kawamura, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

[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.