Storms Close Schools, Snap Power Lines

Storms that left heavy snow and freezing rain across the Plains, Midwest and central New England closed schools Wednesday and left hundreds of thousands of persons without electrical power. A rare snowfall whitened southern Texas, bringing San Antonio to a virtual standstill.

At least five persons have been killed in weather-related accidents since Tuesday.

Freezing rain, sleet and snow caused hazardous travel across much of Texas, slowing traffic on major roads to a snail’s pace and making travel on all secondary roads nearly impossible.

Highways were closed, and businesses, schools and military bases shut down as snow fell overnight in the northern part of Texas and southeastern Oklahoma before drifting south. Forecasters said it could reach as close to the Gulf of Mexico as Houston, where it has not snowed in five years.

San Antonio Chaos Grows

The snow was the first in San Antonio since Jan. 13, 1982, the National Weather Service said. By 11 a.m., police said 427 traffic accidents--35 of them with injuries--had been reported within the city limits.

Delte Dascomb, a spokeswoman for the San Antonio Police Department, said: “It is snowing and sleeting all over the city. . . . All the expressways are closed. All the main streets are closed.”

Winds near 40 m.p.h. lowered the wind-chill factor to well below zero across much of southern Texas.

In the upper Midwest, winter strengthened its grip, with temperatures early Wednesday dropping to minus 17 in Minneapolis, the coldest night so far of the season. At Bismarck, N.D., it dropped to 31 degrees below zero.

In Michigan, where a New Year’s Day snow and ice storm interrupted electric power to 367,000 customers at the worst point, crews from Ohio and Indiana helped local utility crews repair damaged lines.

Consumers Power Co. spokesman Dan Bishop said Wednesday afternoon that 175,000 customers--mostly in Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Flint and Lansing--were still without power, including 11,000 who lost electricity Wednesday.

“The ice has been on the trees for more than a day and a half now, and there still are limbs falling,” Bishop said.