Ice Storm Causes Blackouts, 17 Deaths

[RedEarth]

Source: AP



OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A wintry storm caked the center of the nation with a thick layer of ice Monday, blacking out more than 600,000 homes and businesses, and more icy weather was on the way. At least 17 deaths in Oklahoma and Missouri were blamed on the conditions, with 15 of them killed on slick highways.

A state of emergency was declared for all of Oklahoma, where the sound of branches snapping under the weight of the ice echoed through Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma utilities said a half-million customers were blacked out as power lines snapped under the weight of ice and falling tree branches, the biggest power outage in state history, and utilities in Missouri said more than 100,000 homes and business had no power there.

"If you do the math, probably one out of three Oklahomans has no electricity at this point," said Gil Broyles, a spokesman for Oklahoma Gas & Electric, the state's largest utility



Read more: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071211/D8TF02MG0.html

[gateley]

1. Take care, Red Earth! I've experienced an ice storm and they are truly paralyzing.

Good, warm wishes to you and your fellow Oklahomans! :hi:

[RedEarth]

5. Thank you, the situation right now in Oklahoma is very serious

Over one third of the population is without power....hospitals, schools, homes, etc. The picture that was with the article is about three miles from our home....and our neighborhood looks just the same. However, we are very fortunate since our home still has power, but a mile each direction the power has been out for nearly 24 hours and they've mentioned it might take up to a week to restore power to everyone. We've taken in three other families and people are sleeping all over the house...all the beds, sofa's and the floor. ....... Again, thanks for your kind words...I'm off to bed....or I should say, the floor.

[CornField]

2. I was stuck in Oklahoma during the last ice storm

We are bracing here in Iowa... supposed to start hitting us in the next hour or two.

Stay safe and warm, RedEarth.

[madrchsod]

7. iowa---

[GoddessOfGuinness]

3. Be careful out there...

I remember an ice storm we had about 15 years ago...4" of ice. I heard our aluminum carport starting to creak under the weight of it, and Mr GoG went to move his car from its shelter. A couple of minutes after he came back inside, the thing collapsed. :scared:

[Lint Head]

4. Me too. We were without power for weeks. Our home owners

insurance had to pay for downed trees and other destruction. We were up all night listening to trees fall all around our house thinking that any minute a tree would fall on our house. We have 300 acres of woods behind us so it sounded like a war was being waged just behind us. When the limbs from a 200 year old tree fall it sounds like a shot gun when it cracks. When the entire tree falls it sounds like a bomb. Just imagine hundreds of trees falling one after the other.
These people need our thoughts and prayers. :dem:

[madrchsod]

6. that crap is about an hour away from my house.

not sure exactly where the worse is to hit.


----A Mixture Of Snow... Sleet And Freezing Rain Will Develop Between 2 AM And 4 AM Tuesday Morning. This Mixture Is Expected To Quickly Become All Freezing Rain By Sunrise And Continue As Freezing Rain Through Most Of The Morning Hours. Significant Ice Accumulations Of One Quarter To One Half Inch Are Expected. The Freezing Rain Will Begin To End Tuesday Afternoon... Possibly Ending As Rain As Surface Temperatures Reach The Freezing Mark.

days like tomorrow makes not driving 50 miles back and forth to work worth being laid off

[rockybelt]

8. I live in Liberty, Mo

Kansas City is a suburb of Liberty and we are getting freezing rain right now. It has lightened a bit but supposed to increase later. We had a terrible ice storm in 02 and I don't want to go through that again. Our Oak trees have limbs dragging the ground right now with about half inch of ice on the. The lights flickered a while ago. Man, I hope they don't go out.

Going to bed and hope to wake up in a wrm house.

[High Plains]

9. I drove through this thing yesterday.

From Dallas to South Dakota. Freezing rain all the way up to I-80 in Nebraska. Stuck on I-35 in Oklahoma City for an hour because power lines had fallen on the highway. Had to stop periodically and knock the ice off my windshield wipers. It's below freezing her in South Dakota this morning, so I still have souvenirs: My passenger side rear view mirror is now an ice ball about the size of a basketball.