Emergency directors glad no ice accompanied 7 inches of snow

Friday's storm dumped plenty of snow on Southeast Missouri, but area emergency management directors are grateful the area was spared ice.

"It's the first significant snow we've had in quite a while, but it won't go down in the annals of history," said Dick Knaup, emergency management director for Cape Girardeau County. "Ice has far many more complications, so I'll take snow over ice any day."

The storm arrived in the area three days after the first anniversary of an ice storm that left as many as 100,000 people without power from the Bootheel into Southern Illinois. Some areas received as much as 2 inches of ice during that storm.

Joel Evans, emergency management director for Scott County, said he was relieved the area received only snow.

"It's like daylight and dark," Evans said. "This is a typical winter event. Last year was the storm of the century."

Snow began falling around 7:30 a.m. Friday, and as the day went on many area schools dismissed early.

The National Weather Service said Cape Girardeau received 7.7 inches of snow, the most since Dec. 21, 2004, when Cape Girardeau received 9 inches of snow. As much as 9.5 inches of snow coated the Bootheel by Saturday.

Throughout the storm, road crews treated and cleared primary roadways. Friday night road conditions rapidly deteriorated as snow fell faster than road crews could plow. By Saturday afternoon crews were still working on roads.

"I've heard that there are no impassable roads, but you want to always use extra caution in these times," Knaup said Saturday. "If we can get a full day of sun on Sunday the roads will improve drastically."

The slick roads caused numerous traffic accidents throughout Southeast Missouri on Friday and Saturday, including a fatal accident in Dunklin County.

Around 11:35 a.m. Friday, Kennette A. Meredith, 50, of Dexter, Mo., was driving her 1994 Ford southbound on Highway 25 when the vehicle ran off the roadway and overturned. Meredith was pronounced dead at the scene.

Run on stores

Sleds, ice melt, milk and bread were among the most popular items at area grocery and hardware stores in the days leading up to Friday's snow.

Tyler Russom, manager of Buchheit in Jackson, said that most of the 80 sleds that were delivered Thursday afternoon were sold by the time the store closed that day.

"Everyone was expecting that we'd wake up with snow on the ground this morning," Russom said. "It's a Friday and people were expecting schools to close, which meant they had a day of sledding."

Sharon Beussink, assistant manager at Schnucks in Cape Girardeau, said aisles and check-out lines were constantly full as shoppers grabbed milk, bread, eggs, chips and soft drinks.

"We've been busy since Wednesday, though Thursday had to be the busiest," Beussink said. "We brought in extra help to assist with the lines."

Country Mart in Jackson reported that milk, bread and ground beef were among the best sellers.

"Everyone bought anything and everything," manager Kevin Groves said. "We just tried to keep up with it."

Storm widespread

The storm left 13 inches of snow in the northern Texas Panhandle, where nearly all of Interstate 40 from the Texas-Oklahoma line to New Mexico was closed Friday.

Heavy ice brought down electrical lines and trees limbs, leaving nearly 129,000 homes and businesses in Oklahoma without power Saturday afternoon, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. A spokeswoman for Public Service Co. of Oklahoma said it could be five days before electricity is restored to all customers.

States of emergency were declared in Arkansas, Tennessee and parts of Virginia.

In Kentucky, the state transportation cabinet said that 5 or 6 inches of snow had fallen in most of the state, with nearly a foot piling up closer to the Tennessee line.

Nearly a foot of snow had fallen in parts of western North Carolina, and nearly 10 inches had fallen in some areas north of Memphis, Tenn. In Nashville, about a half-foot of snow was on the ground, the National Weather Service reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

bblackwell@semissourian.com

388-3628

Pertinent addresses:

2801 Old Orchard Road, Jackson, MO

19 S. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, MO

309 E. Jackson Blvd., Jackson, MO

1 Barton Square, Jackson, MO