Ice storm cometh; Midwest to Maine, treacherous weather

By M&C US News Dec 10, 2007, 16:20 GMT

Flight delays at Chicago's O'Hare airport, and numeorus traffic deaths are the result of a frigid and icy swath of weather that is making Monday commutes and travel a real headache.

Commuters faced icy roads Monday from the southern Plains to the Northeast as a storm spread ice and freezing rain that was linked to at least 10 deaths.

Electrical outtages and hundreds of weekend airline flights were grounded because of the freezing weather.

On Monday, ice storm warnings, freezing rain advisories, winter storm watches and winter weather advisories extended along a cold front from Texas to Maine.

The wintry weather was expected to continue through midweek.

Ice accumulations already a half-inch thick were reported Sunday in parts of Oklahoma and could build up to as much as an inch thick in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, the weather service said.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard to aid communities affected by the storm.

In Chicago, the cancellation of more than 400 flights Sunday at O'Hare International Airport were reported, authorities said. About two dozen flights were canceled at Kansas City International Airport, and 13 were canceled at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis.

More than 200,000 customers were reported blacked out early Monday in Oklahoma alone and schools across the state were closed because of the slippery conditions. On Sunday, utilities had reported more than 130,000 customers blacked out in Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois and Kansas.

Travel was discouraged everywhere in Oklahoma, according to reports on CNN this morning.

Missouri also had reported hazardous road conditions.

A section of Interstate 70 in Missouri's Montgomery County was closed when a large power line fell across the highway. A nursing home in the county was without power, and its generator didn't work.

In the Northeast, it was reported that many schools across upstate New York were closed or started late for the second Monday in a row because of icy roads. Last Monday, a mixture of snow, rain and sleet closed schools across a large area of upstate New York state.