Obama declares Missouri counties disaster area

Gov. Jay Nixon announced in a news release today that Pres. Barack Obama has approved a request to declare Missouri a disaster area following this week's massive ice storm.The declaration will now make federal funds available to local governments affected by the disaster following damage assessments by the State Emergency Management Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency.According to the news release, 88,000 homes in Missouri were still without power and over 2,000 people were staying in 35 shelters across the southern part of the state Friday afternoon. . ...