Storms Bring Ice and Snow to Midwest
A storm that brought freezing rain and snow to the plains states and Midwest over the weekend has moved into the Northeast, leaving at least 19 people dead in weather-related accidents.
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This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Robert Siegel.
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And I'm Melissa Block.
It's turning out to be a dark Christmas Eve for quite a few homes around the Midwest. Thousands of people are still without power after the big snow and ice storm that passed through over the weekend. At least 19 deaths are blamed on the weather. Road and air travel have also been disrupted.
And as NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports, Amarillo, Texas had one of the worst weather-related traffic accidents over the weekend.
DINA TEMPLE-RASTON: Interstate 40 was closed for most of the day Saturday when a truck jackknifed and blocked the highway in whit-out conditions. As many as a hundred cars ended up in a huge chain reaction accident. The police said many of the cars are still littering the shoulders of the Texas road today.
Corporal JERRY NEUFELD (Public Information officer, Amarillo Police Department): Honestly, we really don't know. We're still going through it, trying to find out whose vehicle was what, who was in what vehicle. It was just a big mess. It was just a disaster.
TEMPLE-RASTON: Corporal Jerry Neufeld is the public information officer for the police department.
Cpl. NEUFELD: When you have, you know, anywhere from 70 to a hundred vehicles with numerous people in every vehicle, it does get to be quite chaotic. We were several hours in clearing up the Interstate before it was able to be reopened. We've had, you know, pileups before. And we've had 20 and 30 cars involved in pileups, no doubt, over the years. I can't remember one of this size in the last 25 years that I have been here.
TEMPLE-RASTON: Texas wasn't alone. White-out conditions caused multicar accidents on I-70 outside of Topeka, Kansas and I-29 in Missouri as well. The high winds and snow caused airport delays across the nation's midsection.
The National Weather Service clock gushed of more then 88 miles an hour over Lake Michigan over the weekend; that grounded some 300 flights at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. The cancellations had people scrambling to get other flights before Christmas.
But Gregg Cunningham, spokesman for the Chicago Department of Aviation, said by this morning, most of the stranded were gone.
Mr. GREGG CUNNINGHAM (Spokesman, Department of Aviation, Chicago): This morning, airlines are busy rebooking passengers on flights to get them to their destinations. We have a favorable weather forecast for air travel today. And a lower volume of passengers expected at both airports. So we are confident that operations will run smoothly throughout the day at both O'Hare and Midway.
TEMPLE-RASTON: As difficult as it had been for holiday travelers to get to their destinations, the good news is that the return trip will likely be easier. Texas has clear and cold conditions today; Chicago expects the same for the rest of the week. But the Department of Aviation's Gregg Cunningham is cautious.
Mr. CUNNINGHAM: Our approach is usually to take a day by day look at what's going to happen that particular day and prepare the best we can.
TEMPLE-RASTON: Transportation officials expect today and tomorrow will be light travel days because most people will stagger their trips home over the next week.
Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News.
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Deadly Storm Grips Upper Midwest
At least 11 people have died in a snowstorm that has gripped the upper Midwest, knocking out power to thousands of homes and causing multicar crashes on major highways in the Plains.
Winter storm warnings for parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan were set to lapse Monday, but officials warned holiday travelers that conditions are still treacherous.
"The roads aren't quite as ice-covered, but we're still telling people not to drive unless they have to," said Sgt. Tim Elve of the Dane County, Wis., Sheriff's Office. "The interstate is still slick and the rural roads are really bad."
Officials worried Monday that travelers would ignore the poor road conditions in order to get to their destinations for Christmas Eve.
"I know it's the holidays, but we hope people use some common sense when traveling," said Sgt. Chad Breuer of the Grant County Sheriff's Department in southwest Wisconsin. "There are a lot of people saying, 'I'll just leave that much earlier,' but still, the roads are not favorable for traveling."
Thousands Without Power
The storm rolled through Colorado and Wyoming on Friday, then spread snow and ice on Saturday from the Texas Panhandle to Wisconsin.
Radar showed snow falling across much of Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota on Sunday and moving into parts of Michigan and Indiana.
"Everything is just an ice rink out there," said Sgt. Steve Selby with the sheriff's department in Rock County, Wis.
Heavy rain on Sunday pounded areas in the Southeast to the lower Great Lakes.
The area of Madison, Wis., got three to four hours of freezing rain early Sunday. The combination of icy pavement and gusty wind made driving treacherous.
Wind gusting to more than 50 mph uprooted trees in parts of Michigan.
Winds were recorded blowing as fast as 88 mph over Lake Michigan, with gusts of 50 to 68 mph across the Chicago region, according to the National Weather Service.
Because of the wind, airlines canceled more than 300 flights Sunday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the city Aviation Department said. Municipal officials said the wind had knocked out nearly 170 traffic signals, and there were more than 500 reports of fallen trees and branches.
More than 11,000 homes and businesses were without power at some point Saturday in Wisconsin because of the freezing rain, ice, gusty wind and heavy snow, utility companies said. Michigan utilities reported some 31,000 customers were still without power Monday morning, and in Illinois about 15,000 customers were blacked out.
Wrecks Blamed on Storm
At least three people in Minnesota, three in Wyoming, three in Wisconsin and one person each in Texas and Kansas were killed in traffic accidents that authorities blamed on the storm.
The fatality in Texas came in a chain-reaction pileup on Interstate 40 that involved more than 50 vehicles, including several tractor-trailer rigs, police said. At least 16 people were taken to hospitals, police said.
Many involved in the pileup were holiday travelers, including families with small children not dressed for the weather. Other drivers opened their own Christmas presents to provide warmer clothing for the children.
Authorities believe the pileup, which shut down the highway for most of the day, was caused by near zero visibility in blowing snow and slippery pavement. Multivehicle wrecks on Saturday also temporarily blocked sections of I-70 in Kansas and I-29 in Missouri.
From NPR reports and The Associated Press
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