Good Riddance

Hundreds of thousands of people were waiting for their electricity to be restored in the aftermath of a snow and ice storm blamed for at least 22 deaths.

The storm had blown far out to sea on Saturday, leaving a trail of broken tree limbs and snow banks from Oklahoma to Maine.

Among those still without electricity from Oklahoma to upstate New York were more than 115,000 customers in Michigan, and several thousand of them might not regain power until Monday, utility officials said. Oklahoma state emergency officials estimated the number of customers still in the dark Saturday at 149,000.

Bill Dowling, executive vice president of Kansas City Power and Light, said he expected repair crews there to work well into the new week.

“This is the most devastating storm we've ever experienced in our 120-year history,” he said. “We plead for patience.”

Some 76,000 customers were still blacked out Saturday in New York state, where power lines were snapped by a combination of ice and wind gusting to 71 mph.

The storm struck the southern Plains on Wednesday, then whistled across the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes into the Northeast.

After freezing rain downed tree limbs and power lines Friday in parts of the Northeast, rising daytime temperatures threatened pedestrians with falling ice.

“Driving's a problem but no one should be walking around because you never know what's going to come down on top of you,” Sheriff Gary Maha said Friday in Genesee County, New York.

Wind gusting to 55 mph forced the evacuation of the 29-story Xerox office tower in Rochester, New York “When you're in a tower of our size and surrounded by windows you want to take precautionary measures,” said Xerox spokeswoman Christa Carone.

The wind also collapsed a nearly nine-story, inflated dome near Detroit that housed a driving range and miniature golf course, officials said. One minor injury was reported.

President George W. Bush had issued a major disaster declaration for 28 Oklahoma counties, and the governor of Missouri planned to seek federal disaster aid.

“This area has truly been devastated,” Missouri Gov. Bob Holden said after touring hard-hit areas.

In Winfield, Kansas, Becky and Jimmy Brock wondered whether they could spend another night in their dark, frigid house. On Friday, they donned three layers of clothing and stood on their front porch to soak up the warming sunshine.

“It is warmer out here than it is inside the home,” Becky Brock said.

The storm was blamed for four deaths each in Oklahoma, Michigan and Illinois; three in Nebraska; two each in Kansas, Iowa and New York, and one in Missouri.

In southern Illinois, a 3-year-old girl died when high water swept her from her grandmother's arms as the woman tried to cross a stream. “Apparently, she thought it was too deep to drive through, so she attempted to carry (the girl) across,” said Union County Sheriff Jim Nas.

© MMII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed