P
Proteus VII
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
Ice storm cuts power to 1 million
The Associated Press
9:02 PM EST January 28, 2009
A red ribbon marks a downed powerline on a city street in the historic
district of Fayetteville, Ark., on Wednesday.
© AP
Well over a million people shivered in ice-bound homes across the
country Wednesday, waiting for warmer weather and for utility crews to
restring power lines brought down by a storm that killed 23 as it took a
snowy, icy journey from the Southern Plains to the East Coast. But with
temperatures plunging, utility officials warned that it could be
mid-February before electricity is restored to some of the hardest-hit
places. The worst of the power failures were in Kentucky, Arkansas and
Ohio.
Just getting to their source was difficult for utility crews.
Ice-encrusted tree limbs and power lines blocked glazed roads, and
cracking limbs pierced the air like popping gunfire as they snapped.
In Kentucky, National Guard soldiers were dispatched to remove the
debris. Oklahoma, already struggling to restore power there, planned to
send crews to help in Arkansas later in the week.
"It looks like a tornado came through, but there wasn't a path; it was
everywhere," said Mel Coleman, the chief executive officer of the North
Arkansas Electric Cooperative in Salem. The power is out at his house,
too, and he spent Tuesday night in a chair at his office.
The storm was "worse than we ever imagined," he said.
People huddled next to fireplaces
In Arkansas - where ice was 3 inches thick in some places - people
huddled next to fireplaces, wood-burning stoves and portable heaters
powered by generators. When it got too cold, they left for shelters or
relatives' homes that weren't hit as badly.
"We bundled up together on a bed with four blankets. It's freezing,"
said Pearl Schmidt of Paintsville, in eastern Kentucky. Her family
endured 32-degree weather Wednesday morning before leaving their house
for a shelter. 1 of 3 Next>
http://news.mobile.msn.com/en-us/articles.aspx?afid=1&aid=28873371
© 2009 Microsoft
I am Proteus
The Associated Press
9:02 PM EST January 28, 2009
A red ribbon marks a downed powerline on a city street in the historic
district of Fayetteville, Ark., on Wednesday.
© AP
Well over a million people shivered in ice-bound homes across the
country Wednesday, waiting for warmer weather and for utility crews to
restring power lines brought down by a storm that killed 23 as it took a
snowy, icy journey from the Southern Plains to the East Coast. But with
temperatures plunging, utility officials warned that it could be
mid-February before electricity is restored to some of the hardest-hit
places. The worst of the power failures were in Kentucky, Arkansas and
Ohio.
Just getting to their source was difficult for utility crews.
Ice-encrusted tree limbs and power lines blocked glazed roads, and
cracking limbs pierced the air like popping gunfire as they snapped.
In Kentucky, National Guard soldiers were dispatched to remove the
debris. Oklahoma, already struggling to restore power there, planned to
send crews to help in Arkansas later in the week.
"It looks like a tornado came through, but there wasn't a path; it was
everywhere," said Mel Coleman, the chief executive officer of the North
Arkansas Electric Cooperative in Salem. The power is out at his house,
too, and he spent Tuesday night in a chair at his office.
The storm was "worse than we ever imagined," he said.
People huddled next to fireplaces
In Arkansas - where ice was 3 inches thick in some places - people
huddled next to fireplaces, wood-burning stoves and portable heaters
powered by generators. When it got too cold, they left for shelters or
relatives' homes that weren't hit as badly.
"We bundled up together on a bed with four blankets. It's freezing,"
said Pearl Schmidt of Paintsville, in eastern Kentucky. Her family
endured 32-degree weather Wednesday morning before leaving their house
for a shelter. 1 of 3 Next>
http://news.mobile.msn.com/en-us/articles.aspx?afid=1&aid=28873371
© 2009 Microsoft
I am Proteus
