Deadly Ice Storm Glazes Midsection Of U.S.

Storm Snaps Power Lines, Closes Schools In Midwest; 23 Deaths Blamed On Weather

(CBS/AP)  Schools closed for thousands of youngsters, Iowa's biggest airport shut down and thick layers of ice brought down more power lines Tuesday as a major ice storm glazed the nation's midsection.

At least 23 deaths had been blamed on the storm system since the waves of sleet and freezing rain started during the weekend. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses had no electricity.

The ice storm is marching north, leaving behind states of emergency in Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, where more than 500,000 homes and businesses lost power -- the largest outage in state history, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

President Bush declared an emergency in Oklahoma on Tuesday, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts.

Food and drinking water are on the way to Oklahoma, says the Federal Emergency Management Agency, along with blankets, cots and generators, adds Cordes.

Iowa's largest school district closed for the day in Des Moines, telling its nearly 31,000 students to stay home, and kids across most of Oklahoma and in the Kansas City, Mo., area stayed home for a second day.

Schools also were closed in parts of Wisconsin, including Milwaukee Public Schools with 85,000 students. "We thought about our kids on foot," said Milwaukee schools spokeswoman Roseann St. Aubin. Some drivers couldn't even get to their buses, she said.

About an inch of ice was expected Tuesday over parts of Iowa, followed by up to 5 inches of sleet and snow. "It's a pretty good ice-maker," said Frank Boksa, a National Weather Service forecaster.

Ice as much as an inch thick had accumulated on trees, power lines, streets and car windshields Monday in parts of Oklahoma and Missouri, with thinner layers elsewhere.

Utilities in Missouri reported more than 100,000 homes and business without power and Kansas utilities said probably more than 70,000 were blacked out Tuesday, with some in the dark since Sunday.

Public Service of Oklahoma spokesman Stan Whiteford told CBS News it's going to take a long time to restore everyone's electricity because the tree and power line damage is so severe and widespread. So, what are families left in the cold to do?

"We're encouraging people to go to a shelter rather than to do something risky in their home and try to stay there, especially if they have health problems," Whiteford said. "But a lot of people are just hunkering down and using their fireplaces to keep warm.

Iowa's two major utilities reported over 17,000 customers without power Tuesday.

The storm even put a crimp on presidential campaigning, with Republican Mike Huckabee canceling stops in western Iowa and former President Bill Clinton calling off appearances in eastern Iowa on behalf of his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Des Moines International Airport closed because of ice late Monday and could be closed most of Tuesday, said spokesman Roy Criss. The airport, which also was shut down by winter weather two weeks ago, has 138 arrivals and departures per day, he said.

"This rain keeps refreezing. We put chemicals down, it melts and then freezes again. We can't stay ahead of it," Criss said. "This is not fun."

Many travelers also were grounded at Chicago, where about 250 flights were canceled Tuesday morning at O'Hare International Airport and departure delays averaging 15 to 30 minutes, said Karen Pride of the city's Department of Aviation.

Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Seidel said on CBS News' The Early Show Tuesday he expects hundreds of more flights to be canceled as the ice storm spreads to the Chicago area.

However, the storm "is not heading to the East Coast and you do not have to worry about it in Philadelphia, D.C., and Baltimore," Seidel said.

Kansas City International Airport in Missouri canceled more than 90 flights Tuesday morning, but spokesman Joe McBride said that was probably due to problems at other airports.

Southeastern Nebraska also had power outages Tuesday and some flights in and out of Omaha's Eppley Airfield were canceled.

FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers sent 50 generators and three truckloads of bottled water from Texas to distribute to blacked-out areas of Oklahoma.

At least 22 deaths - most of them in traffic accidents - had been blamed on the ice and cold since the weekend, including 15 in Oklahoma, four in Kansas, and three in Missouri.

[perrycbs1]

There have been bad weather for as long as recorded history. We just have better reporting of it now.

Concerning global warming:

The facts are that it is currently happening, and the vast overwhelming number of scientist agrees with that.

What is under debate - with no real consensus either way is the cause of global warming. The earth surface temperature has moved up and down for as long as we can track it.

Is the current global warming, say, 99% natural and 1% manmade? Is it 99% manmade and 1% natural? Is it somewhere in the middle? Obviously, man cannot stop the natural process.

I have not seen enough evidence to convince me either way; and don%u2019t much care for those who claim one side or the other. The question of how much mankind is affecting global warming; and by what means, is a very open question.

That is not to say that we should not; on general principle, use resources wisely and pollute less.

[gslinger3]

This is absolutly horrible news for the global warmed left wing fanatical enviroMENTAList nut cases in here!

GOD Bless America! and the Repulican Party!!!

[rowdytexan2]

So I guess you would have no problem with the liberal line saying Bush lied us into this war so he and his buddies could profit from it.
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by hawksprings at 08:52 PM : Dec 11, 2007

I have no qualms about it at all. Not only did they lie, they lied deliberately. Not even lies of omission, but of comission. It''s right in front of your face.

I certainly understand your refusal to believe it if you voted them in office twice. Your guilt must be pretty heavy.

[jetranger7]

I lost POWER last night at 11pm, -- restored again at 4pm,, I have a FirePlace with an insert, and 6 cords of wood on hand, and with no power I cook on the Bar B Q Grill outside, plus I have a kerosine heater, Flaslights, candle lanterns, plenty of Charcoal, , maybe if more people were better prepared, and less on the Video Games and Sports tickets, they too could weather thru several days of badd storms with out going into a panic !!!

[andor3]

"So you have no qualms about a guy who is profiting ...."

None. I thought I was clear.

It is the classic conservative script (do they mail this to you guys when you donate to the libertarians?). How many times have you seen this one?

The script goes: Ah my liberal friend, we would like to help solve [aids/hunger/global warming/medical care] but the solution is just too [hard/costly/bad for the economy/impractical]. So we''d better do nothing.
(this is said in a condescending tone implying that the liberal is a nice person, just unconnected with reality).

What drives them nuts is when a liberal responds to the conservative with "nope, people who are solving these issues are making more money in a week than you will see in a lifetime." And they are cooler and better looking (especially for a Hollywood star).

Then the conservative starts spluttering about impure motives and how can anyone with principles be actually happy and successful...

[ontheleft]

Global warming is a myth. Just ask Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and that classy chick Ann Coulter among others. That''s where I get my global warming information from... not from the thousands of highly educated politically unbiased scientists all around the world who''ve been studying the problem for years.

[hawksprings]

andor,
So you have no qualms about a guy who is profiting from the hysteria he''s trying to create, and not question his motives for it?

So I guess you would have no problem with the liberal line saying Bush lied us into this war so he and his buddies could profit from it.

[pakaal]

GEE, UNCLE AL, HOW MUCH FUEL DOES A JET AIR LINER BURN ANYWAY?
tiddsanbeer

Heh, yeah, I think you''d better stick to what you know best "tiddsandbeer" and leave the thinking to those who can.

[pakaal]

AaaBee wrote: "The heated arguments against climate change have no more factual evidence on their side that the heated arguments that global warming is real and we need to fix it."

Actually no, the only folks who agree with you are those so committed to denying global consensus on this issue they refuse to believe the evidence. If it makes you feel better denying what''s going on, or want to kick Gore around for talking about this, knock yourself out. Meantime the rest of us will keep working towards a solution.

[andor3]

"And then we find out this person owns multiple homes, one of which is a mansion ... the carbon credit company GIM is chaired by this person ... invest in other companies ... put money in his pocket..."

Conservatives seem to especially hate liberals who are capitalists, even more so when they are successful.

I guess it ruins their tired argument that embracing real values means great sacrifice, poverty, and economic hardship. You know... if we try to stop global warming, all business will suffer, taxes will go up, the moon will turn green, blah, blah,....

When conservative visionaries profit, it is good business, when liberal visionaries profit, it is "ulterior motives." whatever

[andor3]

links don''t mean a lot, even when they point to "scientists." Corporations were getting pummeled by science that led to public policy and opinion they didn''t like, so they discovered they could influence science--not directly--but by providing funding. In science, the one with funds decides what the questions are and that goes a long way to determining the answers.

They did not influence all research--they just needed enough contrary opinion to create debate instead of action. Unfortunately that has backfired and now any research result is scrutinized for its funding as much as its data.

In the old days it was effective to run around shouting "look, I have a paper that disagrees, look look" to prevent any action. But that just does not work any more. But some did not get the word and still keep trying...

[hawksprings]

AaaBee,
I''m not mad.
We got 4 more inches of snow today where I live.
Global Warming will never get here...

[aaabee-2009]

Posted by hawksprings at 04:55 PM : Dec 11, 2007

Dont'' get mad, I''m not backing you into a corner.
You spoke of not raising taxes.

If you can borrow money from China for war, why can''t you do it for to save the planet. There needn''t be any raising taxes.

[ibzjem]

Funny, no one is touching on one of the most obvious causes of climate change. Even good ''ol Gore didn''t speak much about it in his movie. That is global deforestation. Gore showed a graphic of how trees breath CO2 in the summer, but in the winter when the leaves have fallen, CO2 rises. This is a proven cyclic event. Now, imagine this effect if there are millions of acres of trees cut, burned, and destroyed each year. I''m not one that will run out and chain myself to a tree, but it seems pretty obvious if you think about it. If you don''t think so, go here and look around:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Deforestation/

[hawksprings]

AaaBee,
Dont'' get me started on Ulterior Motives.

When someone goes around the world on private charter jets preaching about the devastation that Global Warming will bring, and makes a movie threatening us with 20 feet rises in sea levels unless we do things like reduce our consumption, and do with less, and buy carbon credits from companies like G.I.M....

And then we find out this person owns multiple homes, one of which is a mansion that uses 20 times the amount of energy a typical American home uses, and the carbon credit company GIM is chaired by this person and does not seem to do ANYTHING to offset carbon output other than invest in other companies and put money in his pocket...

Then don''t try to tell me the only ones with "Ulterior Motives" are the ones opposing the Church of Global Warming.

[aaabee-2009]

Why would you want to pay higher taxes and prices because of a FALSE PREMISE?
Why would you want to make life harder on the World''''s poorest people for a SCAM??
Posted by hawksprings at 04:29 PM : Dec 11, 2007

You say it is a false premise so that your taxes aren''t raised. You say it is a scam so that you, who shops at Wal-Mart, doesn''t want to make life harder on those poor people in some third-world country you never think about otherwise? You have ulterior motives to your wanting GW to not be real, and if you do, perhaps GW''s detractors do as well?

Please do not feel I am badgering you. I very much appreciate your point of view and your willingness to stand up for it. But you aren''t showing me anything to change my mind, to come over to your side. I can''t see the reasoning.

[hawksprings]

AaaBee,
Do you REALLY think that just because I''m against The Church Of Global Warming, that I want to drink dirty water, breathe polluted air, and eat food grown from poisoned land?
Do you REALLY think that I want to kill off all life in the Ocean?

Come now. Let''s not paint with quite such a wide brush. I have to live on this planet too.

BTW, I grew up on a farm. My dad raised cows, pigs, planted corn, wheat, oats, etc.
How long would he have lasted as a farmer if he had no concern for his environment?

I''m all for cleaner technology and less pollution.
I just don''t buy in to the Human-caused Global Warming Hysteria.

[aaabee-2009]

The heated arguments against climate change have no more factual evidence on their side that the heated arguments that global warming is real and we need to fix it.

What weights the scales for me is that humas are polluters and our world is getting polluted; regardless of fancy terms or spin campaigns, that is truth.

What splits us two camps is taking Action.

On one side we have those who wish to take action on some level that reduces human pollution into our water/air/soil environs.

On the other side are those who want permission to do nothing, to change nothing, to keep pollution emissions laws in the background and uninforced, to let development rampage across our last green spaces, and to keep the profit margin as far from the environmental spotlight as possible.

Action is all that separates you and me.

[hawksprings]

Sorry the links are "fractured". When you paste a link in, it seems to do it automatically.

AaaBee,
The point I was trying to make with my post of websites is that there''s not a ''lock-step'' agreement on Human-Caused Global Warming like The Consensus would have you believe.

Now there are more studies coming out that are showing human activity is having a minimal to non-existent impact on the climate.
But the "cures" proposed by the Global Warming Industry would be very expensive, do NOTHING to change the environment, and make life harder for poor people by driving up the costs of many products.
(Corn is a great example. The use of corn for biofuels has driven up corn prices dramatically, making a basic food staple for many poor Mexican families too expensive to afford. All in the name of saving the environment.)

That''s all I''m trying to say.

I believe Algore is selling us a bill of goods.

When you''ve got NEWER, MORE ACCURATE studies of Ice Core samples showing that CO2 Levels actually FOLLOW temperature increases by dozens or even hundreds of years, then THERE''S NO CRISIS.

Why would you want to pay higher taxes and prices because of a FALSE PREMISE?
Why would you want to make life harder on the World''s poorest people for a SCAM??

[displeased]

Hawksprings, there are all kinds of articles available that go both ways, depending on whatever data the researchers choose to follow and interpret. And there are all types of opinions based on what people choose to believe and how they choose to be informed. Regardless of your believe in global warming, we still should not be careless with resources and should pursue cleaner sources of energy. As global population keeps growing, the human species as a whole will need to become more efficient and less wasteful.