OKLAHOMA CITY — A million utility customers struggled without electricity in the nation’s midsection after a huge storm dropped sleet and freezing rain across much of Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Iowa. The system has been blamed for at least 24 deaths since it developed last weekend.
Glistening, ice-covered roads contributed to many of the deaths. Downed power lines caused dozens of fires in Oklahoma.
And then there was the problem of staying warm because officials cautioned that electricity may not be restored for days, if not weeks.
The power outage was the worst ever in Oklahoma, with nearly 600,000 homes and businesses without electricity Tuesday. Nearly 350,000 other customers were affected by outages in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Illinois.
The storm also caused extensive travel problems. About 560 flights were canceled at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, and hundreds of other flights were delayed.
Officials in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma declared states of emergency.
Tulsa and Oklahoma City each had more than 100 reports of fires since the storm began, mostly from tree limbs crashing into live power lines, authorities said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency rushed 50 industrial generators to Oklahoma for hospitals, water-treatment plants and emergency shelters, and 50 more were on the way. FEMA was also providing blankets, cots and packaged meals.
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