Massive power outages and dangerous travel continue in Plains

Thursday, December 14th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(AP)-Residents across the Plains coped with widespread power outages and treacherous travel Thursday as freezing rain, frigid temperatures and heavy snowfall pounded the area and pushed eastward.

More than 155,000 homes and businesses in Arkansas alone were still without electricity a day after ice storms caused power lines to fall.

A state police captain there was killed as he tried to help motorists whose van overturned. A vehicle slammed into the guard rail, then hit the officer and another man, who was hospitalized.

The slick roads and heavy snowfall have also caused at least other 10 traffic deaths, including five in Indiana.

``This is as much snow as we've seen in the last 15 years, and we got it all in one whack,'' said Charles Ward, city superintendent in the small southeastern Kansas town of Colony. The area received about 14 inches of snow.

Springfield, Mo., also had received more than 14 inches of snow.

The remnants of the storm that began Tuesday were continuing Thursday, with more chilly temperatures, and many residents were also faced with the daunting task of digging out from all the snow.

``Now it's time for the sore backs to kick in,'' said Jim Wright of Springfield, Mo., who spent close to an hour moving snow from his driveway while his daughter made snow angels. ``You've got to love winter.''

In New Hampshire, the pilot of a two-engine plane crashed into dense woods Thursday after laboring to fly in heavy snows. He was hospitalized in serious condition.

``When we got there, he was just lying there, with no clothes on. They were all burned off,'' said Tom Woodman of Chesterfield, N.H., who helped the pilot after the crash.

Three family members were killed in Indiana on Wednesday when their car spun out of control and hit a garbage truck, and a 5-year-old girl was killed when her mother's van slid into the path of a train. Another man died when his Jeep Cherokee crossed the median on snow-covered Interstate 65 and slammed into a tractor-trailer.

A Kansas man died when his carport collapsed under the weight of the snow, and a New York man died in raging wind Tuesday as he tried to saw off a tree branch and was struck by another part of the tree. One death was also reported in Texas, one in Missouri, two in Oklahoma and two others in Arkansas.

AAA Michigan reported more than 8,200 calls from stranded motorists _ four times the usual winter tally _ after as much as 20 inches of snow accumulated in parts of the state.

Entergy Arkansas said it could be Saturday before power was fully restored in that state.

``This very well could be the worse ice storm we've ever seen in terms of damage to the electrical system,'' Entergy spokesman David Lewis said. ``The ice is it. Snow wouldn't have hurt nearly this bad.''

In east and central Texas, tens of thousands of customers still lacked electricity on Thursday, and a nursing home was forced to transport 32 residents to a nearby church for warmth.

On Wednesday, the nasty weather forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights in and out of St. Louis; Dallas-Fort-Worth; Chicago; Memphis, Tenn.; Little Rock, Ark.; Tulsa, Okla.; and Oklahoma City.

``We fought our way out of Chicago, and now we have to fight our way out of here,'' said Jim Kanik, who had traveled to St. Louis a few days ago from Chicago.

In Chicago, two planes bumped on the ground Wednesday night amid steady snowfall. It wasn't known if weather was a factor, and no one was injured.

The weather also forced hundreds of schools to close in Ohio, Michigan, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Louisiana and Illinois.

Sherry Bentley, of Belleville, Ill., made the best of Thursday's lackluster conditions _ she went shopping.

``I spent the morning baking cookies, and I figured I would come out and miss the crowds today,'' Bentley said.

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National Weather Service