Conditions better outside Cape Girardeau, Jackson; power outages worsening in Scott County

The National Weather Service said Tuesday morning the ice storm is over.

The worst hit areas from the ice storm that put a hard crust over Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois seem to be from Cape Girardeau to the west and north.

In Bollinger County, emergency leaders set up two warming centers to aid people left without power by the storm, said Calvin Troxell, assistant fire chief for Marble Hill. He estimated that half the county's residents are without power.

The warming centers are the New Salem Baptist Church on Highway 51 north of Marble Hill and the First Baptist Church of Marble Hill, 502 Broadway in Marble Hill, Troxell said. The warming center at New Salem Baptist Church is already open and the First Baptist Church center will be open at approximately 2 p.m.

Both centers are expecting to house people overnight. "We are trying to keep people safe and get them to a warm area if they don't have heat," Troxell said. "We are expecting winds this afternoon and we are putting more things in place for tonight."

Anyone expecting to stay overnight should bring blankets and other warm wraps, Troxell said.

Many county roads are impassable because of downed tree limbs and several homes suffered structural damage as the ice brought down limbs, said Kevin Otte, a deputy with the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department.

For help reaching the warming center, Troxell said to call the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department at (573) 238-2633.

Scott County has five warming centers ready to accommodate people without power, said Scott County Emergency Management Director Joel Evans: Scott Central schools, six miles north of Sikeston on Highway 61; St. Denis school, 115 N. Winchester St., Benton; Oran High School, 310 Church St., Chaffee High School, 517 Yoakum Ave.; and Scott City High School, 3000 Main St.

Evans said so far outages are spread around the county in pockets, but the situation is getting worse. "It's becoming more widespread," Evans said.

In Anna, Ill., a warming center is in place at Goodner Hall of the Choate Mental Health and Development Center, 1000 N. Main St., in Anna, a dispatcher for the Union County, Ill., Sheriff's Department said. To use the warming center at Choate, residents must call (618) 833-5161 because of security needs at the center, the dispatcher said.

As for conditions in Union County, "trees are down, power lines are down, roads are slick and it is not very much fun," said the dispatcher, who declined to give his name.

Half or more of the residents of Union County were without power this morning, he said.

To the south, conditions were better. In Scott City, while there were some tree limbs down and some streets blocked, most if not all residents had power, said Justin Gentry, a city firefighter.

"Cape and Jackson got it a lot worse than we did," he said.

And in Cairo, Ill., there are no reports of power outages and ice accumulations are light, city treasurer Preston Ewing said.

Perryville, Mo., escaped the worst of the storm as precipitation fell as snow and sleet and did not collect heavily on power lines, said city public works director Jeremy Freeman.

Few, if any, power outages are occurring in Perry County and no warming centers have been opened so far.

For updates check back at www.semissourian.com or read Wednesday's Southeast Missourian.