ICY ROADS FORCE CANCELLATIONS

Instead of waking Friday morning to a serene blanket of snow, many area residents faced their worst nightmare -- ice and freezing rain.

Most area schools canceled classes because of the ice and dangerous driving conditions.

Southeast Missouri State University delayed opening its offices because of the weather.

Because students won't arrive for classes until Monday at 8, the two-hour delay only affected faculty and staff members, News Bureau Director Ann Hayes said.

Timothy Niggle, human resources officer for Cape Girardeau public schools, said four administrators drove the roads to determine whether to cancel classes.

"The roads were icy and we didn't feel we could risk the safety and welfare of the children on bus routes, so we canceled classes," he said.

Most students don't mind missing school and a one-day disruption will have little effect on the school calendar, Niggle said.

"They get used to the idea real quick," he said. "It's our first bad weather day. We've been lucky so far."

Friday's storm was basically a mixture of rain, snow and sleet, said Butch Dye, a weather service specialist at the National Weather Service.

"No one form of precipitation was predominant," he said.

Early Friday morning, roads were very icy but improved during the day, said Kevin McMeel, assistant director for the Cape Girardeau Public Works Department. "The rain is doing as much good as we are."

However, the problem with the rain is that it often washes away the sand and chemicals that break up the ice, he said.

Cape Girardeau Police said the weather caused seven accidents between midnight and noon Friday. Missouri State Highway Patrol officials only had two injury accidents because of the inclement weather.

One of those happened around 6 a.m. Friday three miles south of Scott City on Interstate 55. Due to ice, a northbound vehicle with six people from Indiana ran off the road into the median and overturned, causing minor injuries.

Some travelers didn't want to risk driving in the inclement weather and chose to stay overnight in Cape Girardeau.

Cevin Runyon, front desk clerk at the Victorian Inn, said the hotel was only about half full Thursday night, but had to turn people away Friday.

Sid Hill, general manager at Holiday Inn, said he expects more people to stay at the hotel if the weather gets worse or snow accumulates Friday night.

City public works crews began dumping sand and salt on about 200 miles of roads at 12:30 a.m.

"There's so little you can do with ice," McMeel said. "If it melts and refreezes, we're back to where we were at 2 a.m. this morning with everything glazed over."

Because of the ice and freezing rain, two flights at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport were canceled, said a spokesman for Transtate airlines.

Although ice caused a few minor power outages, Union Electric officials reported no major damage related to the storm.

And despite the area's current weather conditions, forecasters say not to expect more winter storms.

The long-range weather forecast doesn't indicate any severe weather. Temperatures will probably remain above normal, Dye said.

"There won't be any arctic blasts in the area any time in the near future," he said.

The winter precipitation was expected to continue through the night with the rainfall changing to snow before ending. Friday's precipitation totaled about .60 inches.

Saturday's forecast indicates no additional precipitation, but skies will be mostly cloudy with temperatures reaching 30 degrees.

"Everybody has different forecasts," McMeel said." We still don't know what to expect, so we just play it by ear."

Like road crews, local hospitals faced the same type of unpredictable situation.

Both St. Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missouri Hospital received an influx of weather-related injuries Friday.

At Southeast Missouri Hospital, at least four injuries caused by falls on the ice were reported. St. Francis Medical Center treated 11 patients for weather-related injuries. Only three of those were from automobile accidents.

To prevent injuries and accidents, many area activities were canceled because of the snow and icy weather.

Most of Friday's high school basketball games were canceled.

The Christian Youth Association Mega Lockout was also canceled. It will be rescheduled for the spring, said Bethel Assembly youth pastor Phillip Roop.

The 1995 Southeast Missouri Honors Wind Ensemble concert scheduled for tonight at Academic Auditorium has been postponed due to inclement weather.

The concert has been rescheduled for next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Academic Auditorium. The concert is free.