Massive storm blamed for 22 deaths

Associated Press

Thousands of people waited for their electricity to be restored Saturday in the aftermath of a snow and ice storm blamed for at least 22 deaths.

The storm had blown far out to sea on Saturday, leaving a trail of broken tree limbs and snow banks from Oklahoma to Maine.

Among those still without electricity from Oklahoma to upstate New York were more than 115,000 customers in Michigan, and several thousand of them might not regain power until Monday, utility officials said. Oklahoma state emergency officials estimated the number of customers still in the dark Saturday at 149,000.

Bill Dowling, executive vice president of Kansas City Power and Light, said he expected repair crews there to work into the new week.

“This is the most devastating storm we’ve ever experienced in our 120-year history,” he said. “We plead for patience.”

Some 76,000 customers were still blacked out Saturday in New York state, where power lines were snapped by a combination of ice and wind gusting to 71 mph.

The storm struck the southern Plains Wednesday, then whistled across the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes into the Northeast.

After freezing rain downed tree limbs and power lines Friday in parts of the Northeast, rising daytime temperatures threatened pedestrians with falling ice.

The temperature fell to just 9 degrees early Saturday at St. Joseph, Mo.

In Winfield, Kan., Becky and Jimmy Brock wondered whether they could spend another night in their dark, frigid house. On Friday, they donned three layers of clothing and stood on their front porch to soak up the warming sunshine.

“It is warmer out here than it is inside the home,” Becky Brock said.

The storm was blamed for four deaths each in Oklahoma, Michigan and Illinois; three in Nebraska; two each in Kansas, Iowa and New York, and one in Missouri.

In southern Illinois, a 3-year-old girl died when high water swept her from her grandmother’s arms as the woman tried to cross a stream. “Apparently, she thought it was too deep to drive through, so she attempted to carry (the girl) across,” said Union County Sheriff Jim Nash.