Storm Leaves Layer of Ice in Midwest, Moves to East

A storm spread snow and rain across the East on Friday after leaving a thick layer of ice in the Midwest that snapped trees and power lines.

Up to 4 inches of snow fell from Pennsylvania across New York state into southern Vermont. As much as 9 inches of snow was on the ground in Ohio and 8 inches had been recorded in Indiana.

Icy roads made travel hazardous and created traffic jams Friday in Ohio, with numerous school closings reported because of the storm.

Slippery roads sent two school buses skidding off the pavement in separate incidents just a few miles apart northeast of Albany, N.Y., but none of the 13 children involved suffered serious injury, authorities said.

Heavy rain fell over parts of the South and flash-flood watches were posted for southeastern Alabama and the Florida panhandle.

Freezing rain that fell Thursday in Indiana, Ohio and Illinois left a thick layer of ice on roads, bridges, trees and power lines. Freezing rain also spread Friday into Pennsylvania and northern Kentucky.

Worst in History

“We are calling it the most serious storm in our company’s history,” Indiana Power & Light Co. spokeswoman Jan Lower said.

Erik Johnson, another company spokesman, said about 56,000 homes had experienced outages. About 15,000 homes remained without power Friday afternoon.

“We’ve got every available crew working, plus we’ve brought in additional crews from neighboring utilities,” Johnson said. “We’re doing everything possible to restore power, but it could take some time before everyone’s power is working.”

Falling trees worsened weather-related problems in Richmond, Ind., where Richmond Power & Light had 75 employees work through the night to respond to 4,000 service calls.

“The roads are passable, they’re beginning to be drivable,” Indiana State Trooper Byron Westmoreland said.