Winter storms, power outages blast the South

Severe winter storms coated counties in ice and snapped power lines across the South on Wednesday, leaving half a million people in the dark and many without heat or water.

The cold and ice have been blamed for 16 deaths since the storm began Monday, according to police.

Winter-weary Southerners trudged miles to shelters, snapped up power generators, and sought fresh water.

Hundreds of flights were canceled in the region. National Guard troops in Arkansas and Texas plucked stranded motorists and delivered them to local shelters.

Opal Harbeston, of Sallisaw, Okla., walked three miles to a shelter after her electricity went out. The 62-year-old described herself as a tough ''country girl.''

 ''Normally I don't walk anywhere,'' she said. ''I knew where I could find a nice warm place to stay.'' 

Relief is expected today as temperatures rise enough to melt ice in the region, says Kevin McCarthy, a National Weather Service meteorologist. The storm system is expected to move east through the Carolinas, delivering rain.

In the storm's wake, utilities struggled to restore electricity. Crews from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan and Indiana were brought in by Entergy Arkansas to help fix power lines. Many were cut by falling tree limbs caked in ice up to 2 inches thick.

More than 300,000 Arkansans went without power Wednesday, joining thousands more in Oklahoma, Texas and northern Louisiana. Entergy Arkansas said restoring service might take until Tuesday.

Portable generators have been flying off store shelves to provide power to electric heaters. At Cummins Mid-South Inc. in Little Rock, Cliff Cranford sold 15 generators since the first ice storm hit two weeks ago. Normally, the company wouldn't sell any generators this time of year, Cranford said.

 In western Arkansas, newspapers closed down for the first time in their history, and mail delivery was stopped.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee shut down state government Wednesday. 

He likened the damage to a nuclear blast without radioactivity, and he asked for federal help to deal with the storm's aftermath. 

Lights and telephone service were out at the mobile home that serves as the temporary governor's mansion while the home is being renovated.

''Let us all pray for warmer weather and for the safety of those who must travel and work in these very trying conditions,'' Huckabee said.

In Texas and New Mexico, snow reached record depths. Albuquerque received more than 6 inches of snow to break a 42-year old record. Elsewhere in the state, 22 inches of snow buried Mineral Hills.