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Deadly US storms move east
15/01/2007 08:15 - (SA)
Oklahoma City - The ice storms that have been blamed for at least 21 deaths continued to lash much of the United States over the weekend as crews tried to restore power to hundreds of thousands, and slick roads spawned accidents.
Waves of freezing rain, sleet and snow since Friday have caused at least 12 deaths in Oklahoma, six in Missouri, two in Texas and one in New York. Many of the deaths were from traffic accidents.
In Texas, 415 flights were cancelled on Sunday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Missouri governor Matt Blunt said about 300 000 households there remained without power on Sunday.
About 350 national guardsmen were going door to door checking on residents in the hardest-hit areas and were helping to clear slick roads of tree limbs and power lines.
"We have what appears to be a three-wave storm," he said on Sunday. "We're in the final wave of it."
Nearly 150 000 customers lacked power in Oklahoma, utilities reported.
The storm system was expected to continue heading northeast, said National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Pedigo.
The Ohio region could see rain on Monday afternoon, while lower Michigan and parts of New England could see more than 30cm of snow.
In the St Louis region, about 150 000 people remained without power on Sunday afternoon, after a pattern of freezing and thaws.
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