So far, 30 deaths are being blamed on winter weather that dumped freezing rain and sleet this weekend over the lower Midwest. The weather system has moved out of the region, but hundreds of thousands of customers were still without power Monday.
Utility crews in Oklahoma reported up to 4 inches of ice on power lines in some areas. The ice contributed to power outages and hundreds of accidents on the roadways spanning from Texas, through Oklahoma and Missouri into Iowa and Illinois.
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt has activated the National Guard to do house-to-house checks in Southwest Missouri and the St Louis area. Blunt says they're also helping with cleanup, and transportation and meal delivery for the homebound.
The latest forecast calls for gusty winds and, later in the week, warmer temperatures but those changes could mean new problems for utilities working to restore power to customers. Ice that thaws and falls from vegetation could cause the limbs to fly upward, with the possibility of snapping more power lines.
Missy Shelton reports for member station KSMU in Springfield, Mo.
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