Bollinger County, Jackson hit hard by storm

For a swath from northern Bollinger County through Cape Girardeau County and on into Illinois, the ice and rain didn't stop from midmorning Monday until Tuesday afternoon.

Reports of an inch to two inches of ice accumulation were common, downing power lines, sending trees crashing to the ground and keeping emergency crews at bay as roads remained unplowed in rural sections and timber blocked streets in towns.

The crash of tree limbs and snapping tree trunks was common in downtown Cape Girardeau Tuesday morning. Trees blocked Independence Street near city hall, emergency crews were kept busy with a constant stream of calls to outlying parts of town and the city leaders were urging anyone who could stay home to do so.

On the Common Pleas Courthouse lawn, at least one tree was decapitated and several others crippled by the loss of limbs.

Bloomfield Road, Perryville Road, Country Club Drive and Big Bend Road all were experiencing problems as overhanging trees fell into the roadway, city officials said.

In Jackson, major city arteries were impassable in many locations, Cape Girardeau County Emergency Operations director Richard Knaup said.

North Farmington Road was impassable from Main Street to Route D, he said. The worst hit areas of Jackson were north and Main Street and west of Hope Street, Knaup said.

"Jackson is in bad shape, and it is not getting better," Knaup said.

In the rural sections of Cape Girardeau County, roads are slick and many of them are next to impassable, Knaup said.

In Bollinger County, emergency leaders set up two warming centers to aid people left without power by the storm, said Calvin Troxell, assistant fire chief for Marble Hill. He estimated that half the county's residents were without power Tuesday morning, a situation that did not improve during the day.

Many Bollinger County roads were impassable because of downed tree limbs, and several homes suffered structural damage as the ice brought down limbs, said Kevin Otte, a deputy with the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department.

Scott County set up five warming centers ready to accommodate people without power, said Scott County Emergency Management director Joel Evans: Scott County Central schools, six miles north of Sikeston on U.S. 61; St. Denis School, 115 N. Winchester St., Benton; Oran High School, 310 Church St., Chaffee High School, 517 Yoakum Ave.; and Scott City High School, 3000 Main St.

Evans said so far outages are spread around the county in pockets, but the situation is getting worse. "It's becoming more widespread," Evans said.

In Union and Alexander counties, most residents north of Cairo lost power. As for conditions in Union County, "trees are down, power lines are down, roads are slick and it is not very much fun," said a sheriff's department dispatcher who declined to give his name.

In Scott City, while there were some tree limbs down and some streets blocked, most if not all residents had power, said Justin Gentry, a city firefighter.

"Cape and Jackson got it a lot worse than we did," he said.

In Cairo, Ill., there are no reports of power outages and ice accumulations are light, city treasurer Preston Ewing said.

Perryville, Mo., escaped the worst of the storm as precipitation fell as snow and sleet and did not collect heavily on power lines, said city public works director Jeremy Freeman.

Few, if any, power outages are occurring in Perry County and no warming centers have been opened so far.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126