Winter storm causes power outages, make roads dangerous

A winter storm that reached Cape Girardeau shortly after 6 p.m. with a sprinkling of freezing rain had grown into a heavy sleet storm by 8:30 p.m.

By 6 a.m. Tuesday, frozen precipitation was still falling around the area, mainly in the form of sleet and freezing rain, and showed no signs of stopping. The National Weather Service forecast the precipitation to change to all freezing rain after noon, with daytime accumulation of 0.3 to 0.5 inches, with more accumulation of now, ice and sleet Tuesday night.

Roads around the region were completely covered, and schools were closed.

The mixture of ice, sleet and some snow that began falling Monday night has caused numerous power outages and made travel hazardous in some areas of Southeast Missouri this morning.

While Cape Girardeau received mostly sleet, areas farther south didn't fare as well. Melissa Scobey of the New Mardid County Sheriff's Department said that while no serious motor vehicle accidents were reported on the roadways, travel is not recommended.

"It's hectic," Scobey said. "The roadways are pretty icy but our problem is our power outages."

New Madrid County had the most power outages of any county served by AmerenUE. As of 7:20 a.m., 862 customers were without power in the county, according to the utility's website.

Other counties without power were Pemiscot with 685, Mississippi with 697, Scott with 129 and Stoddard with 157. St. Louis County had the most customers of any county without power, with 1854 in the dark.

Law enforcement in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Perry County and Bollinger County reported no accidents on the roadways this morning just after 7 a.m. Bollinger County Sheriff's Department dispatcher Tim Upchurch advised motorists not to drive on county roadways.

The storm, which is expected to last into Wednesday, has the potential to be the worst to hit the region in two decades, National Weather Service meteorologist Rick Shanklin said Monday.

Most areas are expected to receive 1 to 2 inches of ice, far more than the 0.25 inches Shanklin said can cause travel problems in the area. The storm may surpass the Feb. 11 ice storm, in which Cape Girardeau received 1 inch of ice.

Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency early Monday evening, which opens the state Emergency Operations Center and activates other disaster help.

"It is bad everywhere," said Officer Jason Young of the Cape Girardeau Police Department. "It is bad for" officers "to get to accidents and hard to keep up with the call volume."

Roads were ice covered everywhere north of the Bootheel in Troop E Monday night, said operator Timothy Meyer. Highway 32 in Iron County was closed due to the difficulties of reaching remote stretches and at least four or five injury accidents on major roads had been reported. The roads, he said, "are bad and they continue to deteriorate."

Areas south of Cape Girardeau were expected to receive more ice and less snow. Missouri cities such as Poplar Bluff were expected to receive as much as 2 inches of ice. Temperatures may not rise above freezing until Saturday.

Getting ready

"Last February we lost power for five days and a big tree fell so we couldn't get out," she said. "I had a 3-month-old at home and I was calling Ameren constantly, asking when the power was coming back on."

"I'm ready for anything," she said.

"It's not a matter of whether we'll be affected, but how bad," Cape Girardeau County emergency director Richard Knaup said during Monday's Cape Girardeau County Commission meeting. Knaup, emergency management and law enforcement officials from the region met with weather service forecasters earlier in the morning about the approaching storm.

Robert Kutak, traffic operation manager with the Cape Girardeau public works department, said one salt brine truck began pretreating bridge decks, streets with curbs and streets with inclines and declines at 8 a.m.

Main streets will be salted first by the 14 crews who will work continuously, he said. Secondary streets will be next on the list, with dead end and cul-de-sac streets being treated last.

In Jackson, public works director Rodney Bollinger said crews have been working to prepare for the storm. Bollinger said roads with the highest volume of traffic, such as Main Street, will be cleared first and receive continuous treatment throughout a storm.

Jackson's street department uses a crew of eight workers, six plow trucks, four cinder trucks, a wheel loader with a 12-foot plow and a motor grader during the process. Bollinger estimates it takes 18 hours to clear all of the city's 100 miles of streets with plows and cinders.

Providing supplies

Mark Beaudean of Southeast Missouri Builders Supply in Cape Girardeau had sold a few bags of ice melt during the first 30 minutes of business Monday morning, but he expected business to pick up late this afternoon.

"It's much easier to treat the surfaces beforehand rather than trying to treat after it falls," he said. "By doing so it keeps the ice from freezing to the surface."

He said that if anyone does not have a snow shovel they should buy or borrow one, along with ice melt, as soon as possible.

Electricity concerns

Cantrell said additional contractor crews are available upon request and can be in place within 24 hours. He said SEMO Electrical Co-op has supplies and materials on hand.

An additional storm trailer, AmerenUE's mobile command post, is en route to the Sikeston area.

Cleary said families should have an emergency-preparedness kit on hand, which should include such items as batteries, flashlights, battery-powered radio, bottled water, nonperishable foods that do not require heating, hand-operated can opener and extra cash. Where possible, water lines and hose bibs should be insulated or covered.

Food and home safety

Syler said if ice crystals inside a package that contained meat are still visible, the food is safe to eat but should be refrozen immediately.

"When in doubt, throw it out," Syler said.

"People ask about why we have so many fires in Cape Girardeau during the winter time," Hasheider said. "This is the time of year when people use heating sources the most. People need to use common sense by using extreme caution as winter weather moves in."

388-3628

388-3646

Log on to semissourian.com