Bitter Cold in Midwest, East Eases : Florida Citrus Crop Turned to Ice; Death Toll Climbs to 87

An arctic cold wave that froze the Midwest and the East eased today but the bitter January cold broke or tied two dozen records in the South and the worst freeze of the century turned the Florida citrus crop to ice.

At least 87 people have died in weather-related deaths nationwide since Saturday. But temperatures began climbing in the East and the Midwest, where the high of 26 forecast for Chicago today was 30 degrees above Sunday’s high of 4 below zero.

That same frigid surge of Canadian air broke or tied low temperature records from Tennessee to Georgia and Florida, where it was 10 at Tallahassee. Gov. Robert Graham declared a state of emergency and lifted some truck-weight restrictions to allow citrus and sugar cane growers to get their products to processing plants and markets as quickly as possible.

Entire Belt Damaged “We’ve suffered fruit damage through virtually the entire citrus belt,” said Earl Wells of Florida Citrus Mutual, a growers association. “On balance it was much worse than the Christmas freeze of 1983. The temperatures are slightly colder in some areas, and this time it engulfed the entire citrus belt.”

Agriculture Commissioner Doyle Conner called the freeze Florida’s worst this century.

A fire apparently caused by a space heater killed four children and critically injured another in Palmetto, Fla. Gertrude Hudson put a portable heater in a hallway to warm her children, but they moved it into their bedroom, where it ignited the bedclothes.

Temperatures began moderating in the Southeast and forecasters predicted the cold would not linger much longer in Florida.

Illinois Peaches Destroyed The cold also wiped out the Illinois peach crop.

“We had 18 degrees below zero here, and when it gets below minus 10 you can almost forget peaches,” said Ray Grammer, who has been growing fruit near Murphysboro since 1946.

New Orleans water officials urged people to stop running water to keep their pipes from freezing because their constant draw on the water supply was draining pressure.

The weather also made a hero out of a Richmond, Va., furnace repairman. Robert Pittman, on a routine call, crawled on his hands and knees through a smoky house to save Annie Bates. Her clothes were apparently ignited by an oven or gas stove, a firefighter said.