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Ice Storm Claims 5, Grounds Flights

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The Associated Press

Published: December 10, 2007

ST. LOUIS - An ice storm grounded airline flights and knocked out power to thousands of customers from Oklahoma to Illinois on Sunday.

Five traffic deaths were blamed on icy roads in Oklahoma.

Ice as much as a half-inch thick coated roads and tree limbs in parts of extreme southeast Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard to aid communities affected by the stormy weather, which started Saturday and was expected to continue through midweek.

An additional three-quarters of an inch of ice was possible by late today in some areas of Oklahoma, the National Weather Service said.

"Tomorrow may be even more of a dilemma than today because we're going to get even a little bit more colder," said John Pike, a meteorologist in the Weather Service's office in Norman, Okla.

Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, one of the nation's busiest, canceled more than 400 flights. The airports in Kansas City, Mo., and St. Louis also canceled several flights.

Blunt's office said tens of thousands of people were without power in central, southwest and northeast Missouri.

Utilities in Oklahoma reported nearly 37,000 homes and businesses without electricity Sunday afternoon.

In central Illinois, the utility Ameren reported about 14,000 customers were without power. Kansas officials said there were no immediate reports of significant power failures.

Churches across the region called off services because of the slippery roads.

Roads in all but the southeastern corner of Oklahoma were considered slick and hazardous, the state Department of Transportation said.

Chicago officials used the city's emergency phone system to deliver recorded warnings about icy sidewalks to about 2,700 elderly residents.

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