Major Winter Storm Leaves 54 Dead
Hundreds of people hunkered down in emergency shelters, and thousands stuck it out in darkened homes after a winter storm that left 54 dead in nine U.S. states.
About 320,000 homes and businesses in several states were still without electricity late Tuesday after a storm that brought ice, snow, flooding and high winds to a swath of the country from Texas to Maine.
For two days, Susie Mullins in Porum, Okla., has had to pull icicles from the front porch and melt them for drinking water.
"Well, it's better than nothing!" Mullins told CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella.
When the weekend ice storm knocked out power in Porum, it also took away the town's ability to pump water.
"I took a bath in a quart pot this morning," grocer Dennis Frisbie laughed. "You do the best you can."
At the First Baptist Church in McAlester, Oklahoma, where most of the city's 18,000 residents have lacked power for four days, residents huddled under blankets and in front of space heaters.
"If it wasn't for the shelter, I don't know where we'd be," said Tara Guzman, 38, while playing board games with her four children. "We're tough; we lasted when the power went out until (Monday). We brought mattresses out in the living room and cuddled."
Subfreezing temperatures were expected to continue in the state Wednesday, with little sunshine to aid in melting the ice until Thursday or Friday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Brown.
Governor Brad Henry on Wednesday planned to visit McAlester and other hard-hit areas of Oklahoma, where 92,000 homes and businesses remained without power.
"I want to see the damage firsthand and make sure we are doing everything possible to help the people there," Henry said.
Josh and B.J. Medley elected to stay in their dark home on Tuesday, noting they had electrical generators, a gas stove and propane heaters. B.J. Medley also had $100 worth of groceries cooling on her front porch.
"It's hard to keep milk, because milk freezes and goes bad," she complained.
The storm had largely blown out of New England by Tuesday, but "pockets of freezing rain and spotty sleet will continue across southern Texas," said CBS News meteorologist George Cullen. "Meanwhile, the areas of Oklahoma and Missouri which are coated in thick ice will see highs only in the low 30's today."
Across the state of Missouri, 85 shelters were expected to accommodate more than 3,600 people Tuesday night, according to the State Emergency Management Agency. About 163,000 homes and businesses still had no electricity.
In the town of Buffalo — population 2,800 — nearly all stores, gas stations and restaurants were closed Tuesday.
"There are no services," Mayor Jerry Hardesty said. "I've talked to residents who have lived here 50 years and nobody can remember it ever being this bad."
The town lost all its power by Saturday. Water towers ran dry Sunday, and water service was restored only late Monday, after the National Guard hooked a generator up to a pumping station.
On Tuesday, ice, sleet and snow forced Texas officials to move the governor's inauguration ceremony indoors for the first time in five decades. Gov. Rick Perry's inaugural parade was canceled and part of Interstate 35 near the University of Texas campus was shut down.
Numerous schools and universities, as well as some local and state government offices, were also closed across the region.
More than 200,000 customers in Michigan also lost power at some point, and 24,000 were still blacked out early Wednesday. The states of New York and New Hampshire also reported thousands of customers without power.
Waves of freezing rain, sleet and snow since Friday have been blamed for at least 20 deaths in Oklahoma, nine in Missouri, eight in Iowa, four in New York, five in Texas, three in Michigan, three in Arkansas and one each in Maine and Indiana.
Elsewhere, Washington state's Puget Sound area, known for drizzle rather than its recent freezing 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.
In California, three nights of freezing weather have destroyed up to three-quarters of the state's citrus crop, and that could mean $1 billion in losses, reports
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked the federal government for disaster aid. Other crops, including avocados and strawberries, also suffered damage.
"This is not just about the crop this year. It could also have a devastating effect next year," Schwarzenegger said.
It could also have an effect on your supermarket tab very soon, notes Futterman.
It was cold again in California Wednesday morning, but not quite as bad as in recent days, said Cullen. Still, it was below the freezing mark throughout the interior valleys.