US ice storm causes blackouts, delays in Texas, Arkansas

Freezing weather gripped parts of the United States on Saturday, with hundreds of thousands of people in Texas and Arkansas coping in the cold without power after a winter storm made roads impassable and caused severe flight delays.
   
The Arctic chill was so pervasive that even Las Vegas may see snowy showers before the weekend is out, forecasters said. The coast-to-coast cold wave was predicted to spread eastward to Virginia and up to New England on Sunday through Monday.
  
More than 3,300 travelers were forced to sleep on cots overnight at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, where airlines canceled more than 400 flights.
   
Nearly a thousand flights were canceled on Friday.
   
Among the stranded travelers were Brenda and Doug Jones, who live in a Dallas suburb and had planned to travel to Aruba for their honeymoon.
   
After 14 hours waiting at the airport, they opted to go home. They said they found most people at the airport were in good spirits despite the conditions, cancellations and crowds.
   
At the height of the storm, some 267,000 electricity outages were reported in Texas, according to utility provider Oncor. That number was down to about 75,000 late on Saturday, and Oncor said it hoped to restore power to "nearly all" of its customers by Sunday night.
   
Forecasters predicted sub-freezing temperatures and icy conditions in the region for the rest of the weekend, with sleet and layers of ice up to 3 inches (7.6 cm) thick around Dallas. Roads and driveways were blocked by fallen limbs from trees heavy with ice.
   
 
REUTERS