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Winter storm barrels across Southeast, one dies

Snow and sleet fall as far south as Mississippi as Oklahoma deals with another dose of ice.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published February 2, 2007

RALEIGH, N.C. - A winter storm rushed across the Southeast on Thursday, closing schools and grounding flights a day after coating roads with deadly ice in the Plains.

A winter storm warning covered the western Carolinas and northern Georgia on Thursday afternoon, and more than 4 inches of snow fell in places. A wintry mix of snow and sleet reached as far south as Mississippi.

Officials blamed at least one death on the icy roads. A man driving a Dodge Neon near Mount Airy, N.C., slid on the slick roadway in front of a semitrailer truck and died in the collision, the North Carolina Highway Patrol said.

By the time most people headed to work in central South Carolina, snowflakes had turned to a cold, steady rain.

"I'm scared to drive just when it's raining," said Marie Davis, 68, of Columbia, S.C. "The bad part is the other people. They drive like crazy."

Schools and businesses across the region closed or opened late, more than 2,000 homes and businesses lost power in western North Carolina, and flights were canceled in the Carolinas.

Warmer weather was forecast for today as the storm pushed east. In South Carolina, the winter storm warning was canceled by Thursday afternoon as temperatures were expected to stay above freezing.

"I don't think by tomorrow we're going to have any concerns," said Harry Gerapetritis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Greer, S.C.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, grappled with a second, trailing storm that kept roads slick and dangerous.

"We made it through rush hour this morning pretty good, but the roads are getting pretty tricky," Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Chris West said late Thursday morning.

The first storm dropped snow and freezing drizzle on the area Wednesday, causing dozens of accidents and four deaths in Oklahoma, including an emergency medical technician who died Thursday, hours after the ambulance she was riding in ran off the road. A fifth woman died Wednesday in Arkansas when her vehicle slid across a highway median and crashed with a semitrailer truck.

The pair of storms followed a three-day storm that hit Oklahoma Jan. 12, causing 32 deaths and leaving more than 120,000 homes and businesses without power across eastern Oklahoma.

[Last modified February 2, 2007, 02:01:29]