US:Deadly ice storms sweeping through the US Plains left more than 400,000 people without power in their homes as temperatures plunged and was blamed for at least 14 deaths, authorities said yesterday.
The icy blasts downed tree branches and power lines, leaving more than 311,000 people without power in Oklahoma and shutting down electricity service to more than 90,000 people in Missouri, more than 10,000 people in Illinois and more than 4,000 in Kansas.
Ice storm warnings were issued from Texas up through Oklahoma and Kansas and east across Missouri into Illinois, with up to an inch of ice accumulation possible in some areas.
Iowa and Arkansas were also affected by the storms.
"We expect a lot more, especially with another round of freezing precipitation that will be making its way through this afternoon," said Oklahoma department of emergency management spokeswoman Michelann Ooten yesterday.
"We are getting ready to deploy some generators to some communities that requested them, and we may be calling on the National Guard for transport."
Missouri governor Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency on Sunday, calling out the state's National Guard to aid communities hit by the storm. "We are only just beginning to see the devastation from this series of storms," Mr Blunt said yesterday.
Ice-slicked roads contributed to the deaths of 12 people in Oklahoma over the weekend, including four who died in a pile-up that involved a tractor-trailer, state officials said.
One Oklahoma man died of hypothermia.
One man died in a weather-related highway accident in Missouri, and another Missouri man was injured when a ice-covered tree fell on him, authorities said.
Parts of Interstate 70 were closed and hundreds of flights were cancelled at major airports in Chicago, Kansas City, St Louis and Oklahoma city.
The National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma, reported ice accumulations on trees and power lines from a quarter to an inch thick in areas of central Oklahoma.
Ty Judd, a weather service meteorologist, said the freezing rain could continue into today, although Oklahoma could get a reprieve. "We might see the temperatures go over the freezing mark this afternoon, which would help the situation," Mr Judd said.
Meanwhile, heating oil futures rose as forecasts for colder weather in the eastern US indicated demand will increase.
The US Climate Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Maryland, said in a monthly forecast that temperatures will be below normal in portions of the midwest and northeast in December.
Supplies of heating oil, which are mostly consumed in the northeast, fell 2.3 per cent in the last week in November.