A massive storm is bringing yet more ice to the Midwest today, leaving schools and airports closed and hundreds of thousands without power.
At least 23 deaths, most of them in traffic accidents, are being blamed on the storm
Officials in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma have declared states of emergency.
Heavy ice and falling branches have been snapping power lines across the region. More than half a million homes and business in Oklahoma are without power and most school districts in the state remain closed for a second day. A power company spokesman says it could be 10 days before they are able to restore power to everyone.
Utility companies in Missouri, Kansas and Iowa are also reporting tens of thousands of customers without power.
In Iowa, Des Moines' airport was closed Monday and a spokesman said it could stay that way, with crews unable to keep up with the ice and freezing rain. That's putting a crimp in presidential campaigning, with Republican Mike Huckabee and former President Bill Clinton canceling appearances Tuesday.
The National Weather Service posted ice and winter storm warnings Tuesday for parts of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois.
About an inch of ice was expected over parts of Iowa, followed by up to 5 inches of sleet and snow.
The storm has left at least 18 dead in Oklahoma and Missouri, with 15 of them killed on slick highways. Officials in Kansas and Oklahoma declared states of emergency.
Oklahoma utilities said 500,000 customers were blacked out as power lines snapped under the weight of ice and falling trees. It's the biggest power outage in state history. Utilities in Missouri had more than 100,000 homes and business without power.
Schools across Oklahoma are closed and some hospitals are relying on backup power generators. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers sent 50 generators and three truckloads of bottled water from Texas to distribute to blacked-out areas of Oklahoma.
Most of the victims were killed on ice-coated highways in Oklahoma.
The treacherous conditions plaguing roads are also hampering air travel. At Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, about 100 flights have been canceled and there have been lots of delays. Other airports in the region are also affected.
State Of Emergency Declared For All 77 Oklahoma Counties
A State of Emergency has been declared for all 77 Oklahoma counties after a winter storm dumped ice across the state, and officials with one power company said on Monday that some customers could be without electricity for a week or more.
Ice disrupted flight operations and led to wrecks that killed 13 people. Freezing conditions also led to the hypothermia death of a 46-year-old Oklahoma City transient, the state medical examiner's office said. Tulsa officials also said a person died from smoke inhalation in a fire caused by the storm.
Most of the outages were in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas. Schools across the state were closed, including at the University of Oklahoma, where finals were set to start on Monday. Ice-laden trees crashed into homes and power lines.
Most morning flights at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City were canceled. Only one of the airport's three runways was operational. The other two were iced over. Tulsa International Airport was without power after an ice storm and a spokeswoman said it may be two days before electricity is restored.
Freezing conditions hampered crews who were battling a fire at Jones High School. Nobody was injured in the early morning blaze, but firefighters said most of the school was destroyed.
Jones, a 2,500-person town 20 miles east of Oklahoma City, was without power and had very low water pressure because there was no electricity to power water well pumps.
A number of towns have reported water problems as well, including in Norman, where city officials have asked residents to conserve water. Authorities said the city's water treatment plant lost power but that they are getting water from an emergency connection with Oklahoma City.
John Pike, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service's Norman office, said slightly warmer temperatures were expected to melt some of the ice Tuesday, although rain remains in the forecast Tuesday and Wednesday.
Meteorologist Ray Sondat in the service's Tulsa office said temperatures in northeastern Oklahoma could reach into the upper 30s and even beyond 40 degrees in some areas Tuesday.
"I guess what we have to do is just get through to Tuesday," Pike said.
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