NEW YORK, Dec 10 (Reuters) - An ice storm knocked out power to more than 270,000 customers in the Central Plains and Midwest on Sunday and Monday, local power companies reported Monday morning.
The system entered Oklahoma early Sunday, bringing freezing rain that caused significant ice accumulation on trees and overhead power lines. The weight of the ice downed tree branches and power lines, cutting power.
That system has now moved into Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.
These trees are hundreds of years old and huge and limbs and trees are everywhere, it is sad. The pictures that my daughter sent were weird, because the ground was still warm enough to keep the streets clear, although ice laden tree branches were taking out power lines and transformers all over town. Last report had 100,000 people in Tulsa alone without power. With more weather on the way and falling temperatures, it could get really bad. Here is a picture, this morning, of the tree in my daughter's front yard. It had already lost a lot of the bigger branches and she had to have them dragged out of her driveway just to get the car out of the garage. Note the splitting branch in the center of the pic... another one getting ready to go.
