By JOSH HOFFNER
Associated Press Writer
The nation's
midsection braced for subzero wind chills and another bout of
snowfall on Saturday, further complicating a massive effort to
restore power to tens of thousands of homes left dark and cold
since a midweek storm.
The forecast
called for wintry weather in states across the western half of
the country, including piercing winds in Arkansas and Missouri,
blizzard warnings in the Dakotas and freezing rain mixed with
snow in Chicago.
The Pacific
Northwest also prepared for more snowfall, a day after wind gusts
knocked out power to at least 100,000 homes and businesses.
``You might
as well go into hibernation at this point,'' said Evan Bookbinder,
a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Springfield,
Mo. ``This is ridiculous for December.''
Arkansas remained
the trouble spot for power outages, with about 90,000 Entergy
customers still without lights late Friday. Wind chills were predicted
to be as low as 35 below zero Saturday.
More than
6,000 utility workers from around the country were spread throughout
the state to restore electric service.
``As soon
as they get the power up, it goes right back out,'' said Shelia
Magness with the Office of Emergency Services in Lincoln County,
which experienced water problems after the storm knocked out power
to water plants and filtration systems. ``Limbs are still falling
as they fix the lines and it breaks again.''
United Airlines
said it has canceled 50 percent of its flights at O'Hare International
Airport on Saturday due to stormy weather.
National Weather
Service forecasters predicted freezing rain and snowfall up to
2 to 4 inches in Chicago, which already had up to 16 inches of
snow on the ground from two storms earlier in the week.
The week's
storms have contributed to more than a dozen deaths, including
five in Arkansas.
The power
outages have created a big demand for generators in Arkansas.
``We've just
been taking generators to folks all over the county,'' said Jim
Johnson with the Dallas County Office of Emergency Services. ``We've
even had a couple calls where we had to take generators to people
on breathing machines and oxygen machines. We get them all charged
up and move on.''
In Washington,
a tractor-trailer rig plunged 150 feet off the U.S. 97 bridge
and into the Columbia River on Friday. Divers using an underwater
video camera located the body of one man in the tractor cab but
were unable to recover it because of dangerous river conditions.
Missouri officials
reported two deaths, and in St. Louis, home to Trans World Airlines,
the carrier canceled flights and urged passengers to postpone
air travel.
About 50,000 customers in Texas, mostly in the eastern part of
the state, were without electricity.
In Wyoming,
cars slid and crashed on slick roads as high winds and snow pummeled
the state and dropped wind chill temperatures to minus 50 in the
northeastern corner. Nine stretches of highway remained closed
as the storm moved east.
In Louisiana,
43,000 customers were still without power Friday, and many were
frustrated without such conveniences as dishwashers and televisions.
``We're going
stir crazy inside here,'' 76-year-old Shreveport resident Walter
Bruce said.
``It is like
living back in the 1800s,'' his son Kenney Bruce added.
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