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Ice knocks out electricity in Illinois
By Cindy Iutzi/Gate City Staff Writer
A winter storm brought about a half inch of ice to the Tri-State Area overnight creating treacherous driving conditions for some and cold, dark homes for others.
This morning residents who park outside chopped ice to get into their vehicles only to be rewarded with a slippery trip to work.
“Let me tell you about my morning,” said Warsaw, Ill., Mayor Robert Frank. “My power went out at 2 a.m. Thank God I have a new respect for candles.”
Frank dressed by candlelight and conquered the frozen garage door with a little bit of help.
He called Police Chief Brandon Norris and rode around the city looking for the cause of the power outage.
“Power was out in two-to three-block areas,” Frank said. “Lines started dropping and there were areas we couldn't get to.”
He estimates about 250 homes were without power.
Frank slid his car out of the driveway into the yard, made it to the street, Main Street and to the Warsaw Road, joining a line of eight vehicles following Street Department Superintendent Harley Griffin, who was driving highway equipment.
U.S. Highway 136 in Hamilton, Ill., was good, the Keokuk-Hamilton Bridge was substantially clear and Main Street, Keokuk was “pretty good,” he said.
At about 7:45 a.m., Norris had to block access to a downed live wire with his squad car and flashing lights.
Frank believes the weight of the ice brought the wires down. He has heard reports of transformers burning.
“But it could have been worse,” he said.
Keokuk Public Works Director Gerald Moughler also believes the area is in fairly good shape compared to other areas of the Midwest.
“I think we missed the bullet last night,” he said. “Yes, it's slick but we don't have it as bad as some. South of us is worse and north is worse.”
Moughler drove around the city this morning and saw downed limbs but fewer than he'd expected. There were some power lines down.
Wind gusting up to 30 mph was supposed to hit the area later this morning and Moughler hoped temperatures would warm enough to melt some of the ice before it arrived.
“If we can get through the next few hours and the temperature goes up, we'll be all right,” he said.
Moughler evaluated the primary roads as “a little slick.”
“We left a little snow on and when the ice fell on it, that has made it crunchy,” he said. “They (road crews) were trying to clear the roads, but with ice coming we thought it was the best we could do. I took a little bit of heat for it.”
An employee at the Clark County Sheriff's Office said Kahoka, Mo., roads are icy, but not bad. One power line is down affecting a restaurant.
Lee County road conditions “are not good at the moment,” said Sheriff Buck Jones this morning. “Highway 61 is pretty good in the right lane (heading toward Fort Madison) but the left lane is 100 percent ice covered this morning.
“Our biggest problem is people won't slow down,” he said.
Jones was driving 55 mph on the way to work and people were passing him at 65 mph or more in the left lane.
“The secondary roads are solid ice,” he said. “They're bad now. Give the road crews a chance to get to work and slow down driving.”
Jones said that from 5 to 8 a.m. this morning only four cars had gone into ditches with no damage and no injuries reported.
Hamilton Mayor Stephen Woodruff said the city lost power in the south half of town at about 3:30 a.m. This morning the Ameren CIPS outage line reported that 35,000 customers were without power in Illinois.
Ameren CIPS could not be reached for comment this morning.
The National Weather Service said Friday that up to 11 inches of snow had fallen in northern Iowa, with a-half inch of ice in the south and a mix in central Iowa, including 1-2 inches of sleet.
The storm was expected to be out of Iowa by early afternoon.
Travel statewide was difficult because nearly all highways and roads were covered by snow or ice.
In Fayette County in northeast Iowa, authorities pulled the snowplows off the highways for a time this morning because blowing snow was creating white-out conditions.
Only scattered power outages were reported. MidAmerican Energy had about 400 customers without power in the Council Bluffs area early this morning.
Rod Donavon with the weather service in Johnston credited the lack of strong winds, which could wreak havoc on ice-covered power lines and trees.
“We didn't have real significant winds overnight, which I think was the saving grace there, especially across the south with all the ice that developed,” he said.
Another storm is expected Saturday, with more snow across northern Iowa and bitterly cold temperatures and strong winds statewide, which could create near-blizzard conditions.
Donovan said temperatures are expected to plunge below zero Saturday night, with dangerous wind chill readings of 40 below zero.
The Midwest has been caught in a stormy pattern, similar to last year, he said.
“We've been having storms move through about every one or two days right now. That's going to continue this week and maybe another little system on Tuesday.”
The major winter storm hitting northern Illinois is snarling traffic and cutting power to thousands of households.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
This morning residents who park outside chopped ice to get into their vehicles only to be rewarded with a slippery trip to work.
“Let me tell you about my morning,” said Warsaw, Ill., Mayor Robert Frank. “My power went out at 2 a.m. Thank God I have a new respect for candles.”
Frank dressed by candlelight and conquered the frozen garage door with a little bit of help.
He called Police Chief Brandon Norris and rode around the city looking for the cause of the power outage.
“Power was out in two-to three-block areas,” Frank said. “Lines started dropping and there were areas we couldn't get to.”
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Frank slid his car out of the driveway into the yard, made it to the street, Main Street and to the Warsaw Road, joining a line of eight vehicles following Street Department Superintendent Harley Griffin, who was driving highway equipment.
U.S. Highway 136 in Hamilton, Ill., was good, the Keokuk-Hamilton Bridge was substantially clear and Main Street, Keokuk was “pretty good,” he said.
At about 7:45 a.m., Norris had to block access to a downed live wire with his squad car and flashing lights.
Frank believes the weight of the ice brought the wires down. He has heard reports of transformers burning.
“But it could have been worse,” he said.
Keokuk Public Works Director Gerald Moughler also believes the area is in fairly good shape compared to other areas of the Midwest.
“I think we missed the bullet last night,” he said. “Yes, it's slick but we don't have it as bad as some. South of us is worse and north is worse.”
Moughler drove around the city this morning and saw downed limbs but fewer than he'd expected. There were some power lines down.
Wind gusting up to 30 mph was supposed to hit the area later this morning and Moughler hoped temperatures would warm enough to melt some of the ice before it arrived.
“If we can get through the next few hours and the temperature goes up, we'll be all right,” he said.
Moughler evaluated the primary roads as “a little slick.”
“We left a little snow on and when the ice fell on it, that has made it crunchy,” he said. “They (road crews) were trying to clear the roads, but with ice coming we thought it was the best we could do. I took a little bit of heat for it.”
An employee at the Clark County Sheriff's Office said Kahoka, Mo., roads are icy, but not bad. One power line is down affecting a restaurant.
Lee County road conditions “are not good at the moment,” said Sheriff Buck Jones this morning. “Highway 61 is pretty good in the right lane (heading toward Fort Madison) but the left lane is 100 percent ice covered this morning.
“Our biggest problem is people won't slow down,” he said.
Jones was driving 55 mph on the way to work and people were passing him at 65 mph or more in the left lane.
“The secondary roads are solid ice,” he said. “They're bad now. Give the road crews a chance to get to work and slow down driving.”
Jones said that from 5 to 8 a.m. this morning only four cars had gone into ditches with no damage and no injuries reported.
Hamilton Mayor Stephen Woodruff said the city lost power in the south half of town at about 3:30 a.m. This morning the Ameren CIPS outage line reported that 35,000 customers were without power in Illinois.
Ameren CIPS could not be reached for comment this morning.
The National Weather Service said Friday that up to 11 inches of snow had fallen in northern Iowa, with a-half inch of ice in the south and a mix in central Iowa, including 1-2 inches of sleet.
The storm was expected to be out of Iowa by early afternoon.
Travel statewide was difficult because nearly all highways and roads were covered by snow or ice.
In Fayette County in northeast Iowa, authorities pulled the snowplows off the highways for a time this morning because blowing snow was creating white-out conditions.
Only scattered power outages were reported. MidAmerican Energy had about 400 customers without power in the Council Bluffs area early this morning.
Rod Donavon with the weather service in Johnston credited the lack of strong winds, which could wreak havoc on ice-covered power lines and trees.
“We didn't have real significant winds overnight, which I think was the saving grace there, especially across the south with all the ice that developed,” he said.
Another storm is expected Saturday, with more snow across northern Iowa and bitterly cold temperatures and strong winds statewide, which could create near-blizzard conditions.
Donovan said temperatures are expected to plunge below zero Saturday night, with dangerous wind chill readings of 40 below zero.
The Midwest has been caught in a stormy pattern, similar to last year, he said.
“We've been having storms move through about every one or two days right now. That's going to continue this week and maybe another little system on Tuesday.”
The major winter storm hitting northern Illinois is snarling traffic and cutting power to thousands of households.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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