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More than a million wait in icy darkness across US
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-29 09:53

Meanwhile, some community leaders buckled down for a long haul. Kentucky Public Protection Cabinet spokesman Dick Brown urged people to conserve water because power failures could limit supplies in some areas.


Don Wall of Indianapolis blows snow from a neighbor's driveway after an overnight winter storm that dumped up to 12 inches of snow in Indianapolis January 28, 2009. Hundreds of schools and businesses were closed in the area as a result of the storm. [Agencies]

Since the storm began building Monday, the weather has been blamed for at least six deaths in Texas, four in Arkansas, three in Virginia, six in Missouri, two in Oklahoma, and one each in Indiana and Ohio. Some parts of New England were expected to see well over a foot of snow as the storm kept moving northeast, but because it turned to snow, ice-related power failures weren't as big of a concern.

That didn't mean a trouble-free day for commuters. Delays or cancellations were reported at airports including those serving Columbus, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York and Boston. Commuters on highways encountered a slushy mess.

Tracey Ramey of Waynesville, Ohio, a village about 20 miles southeast of Dayton, said her husband left for his job as a plow operator late Monday with an overnight bag and hasn't been able to return. He did call her Wednesday morning to caution her not to go to her data-entry job.

"He said, 'There's 2 inches of ice on the road and there's no way you're going to make it to work,'" she said.