South braces for freeze after Plains buried in heavy snow, ice; tens of thousands lose power

Heavy snowfall buries southern Plains, heads east

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Southeastern states were bracing Friday for overnight snow and icy roads from a storm that has toppled Midwestern power lines, closed major highways, buried parts of the southern Plains in heavy ice and snow and left tens of thousands of people in the dark.

As snow and sleet fell Friday in several Southeastern states, forecasters said some parts of the region could see up to a foot of accumulation.

The heaviest snow was expected in Arkansas near the Missouri state line, northern Tennessee near the Kentucky and Virginia borders and western North Carolina, according to the National Weather Service.

Mark Rose, a forecaster with the weather service’s Nashville office, called it “a major winter storm for this part of the country — heck, for any part of it.”

In North Carolina, Interstate 26 near Asheville and Interstate 40 near Black Mountain were shut down Friday night after snow and icy roads caused multiple wrecks. Troopers said they expected the highways to remain closed until early Saturday.

The storm left 13 inches of snow in the northern Texas Panhandle, where nearly all of Interstate 40 from the Texas-Oklahoma line to New Mexico was closed for part of the day.

More than 164,000 homes and businesses in Oklahoma were without power Friday evening, officials said. The outages were caused by a massive storm that left up to a half-inch of ice on trees and power lines.

Gov. Brad Henry requested a federal disaster declaration for all 77 Oklahoma counties.

“In some places, as far you can see there are hundreds of utility poles on the ground,” said Andrea Chancellor, spokeswoman for Public Service Co. of Oklahoma. She said it could be five days before electricity is restored to all customers.

The storm has been blamed for the death of a 70-year-old Oklahoma woman in a propane explosion.

The woman and her husband had apparently been using propane heaters to warm their house in Ada after the storm disrupted their electric service, Assistant Fire Chief Robby Johnson said. The woman, who was not identified, died and her husband was injured when a propane tank exploded Friday morning.

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen declared a state of emergency and state workers were sent home around lunch ahead of the worsening weather. Many businesses followed suit.

States of emergency were also declared in Arkansas and parts of Virginia and schools closed early in northern Alabama.

In Western Kentucky, shoppers at Murray Home & Auto store snatched up every available sled in anticipation of a heavy snow, said store manager Chris Burgess. Others grabbed shovels, kerosene heaters and chain saws, mindful of another winter storm a year ago that caused widespread power outages in the region.

“They’re trying to be prepared this time,” Burgess said.

The Nashville area saw up to 3 inches of snow by late afternoon, and I-40 traffic crawled toward Nashville International Airport for miles because of an accident.

Snowfall was subsiding late Friday afternoon in Memphis after an estimated 3 inches had fallen. Most flights at Memphis International Airport were canceled, and Graceland stopped giving tours of the Elvis Presley home at midmorning.

Memphis officials worried because temperatures were forecast to remain below freezing overnight, posing a threat of icy highways and falling tree limbs.

General contractor Tom Baldwin, 59, said he cut loose his crew at a downtown Nashville building at noon to give them time to get home safely.

“I want to tell people to have some common sense out there,” he said. “Only because you have big four-wheel-drive doesn’t make you stop any quicker.”

The steady snowfall didn’t keep Jason Martin from delivering beer to Lonnie’s Western Room in Nashville’s Printer’s Alley.

“When it snows, everyone goes out and buys milk and eggs — and beer,” joked Martin, 37. “We’re like the Pony Express.”

The Texas Department of Transportation closed I-40 east and west of Amarillo on Friday but later reopened it. Downed power lines and icy, dangerous road conditions also temporarily closed a 50-mile stretch of I-44 southwest of Oklahoma City and parts of I-40 in far western Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico on Thursday.

The storm was good for business at the Days Inn and Suites in Guymon, Okla., where stranded travelers waited for road crews to clear U.S. Highway 54 of ice and snow, employee Rocky Bhagavan said. Sixteen of the hotel’s 35 rooms were occupied at the motel in the Oklahoma Panhandle, he said — twice as many as usual.

“Most of the travelers decided to leave this morning. As soon as they got to the Texas border they had to come back,” Bhagavan said.

Heide Brandes, spokeswoman for the Salvation Army in Oklahoma City, said the organization’s men’s shelter has been full since the slow-moving storm moved into the area Thursday. She said some of the 90 men in the shelter are homeless and sought relief when temperatures dropped to the mid-20s.

Flights were canceled Friday morning at airports in Oklahoma City and Little Rock, Ark.

Arkansas State Police warned people who were driving to work on Friday to be prepared to be stranded. Spokesman Bill Sadler encouraged motorists to bring blankets, water and snacks and to make plans for an overnight stay.

Associated Press writers Tim Talley in Oklahoma City, Bruce Schreiner in Louisville and Kristin M. Hall, Travis Loller and Lucas L. Johnson II in Nashville contributed to this report.