Lights out, roads closed

The ice isn't falling out of the sky any longer, but the effects of the ice storm keep hammering our neighbors to the south of Cape Girardeau.

At our last check, tens of thousands of AmerenUE and AmerenCIPS customers in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois were still without power this afternoon, and the numbers are not changing much.

Ameren is warning these people that it may take a week to restore power. If you know someone without power who needs a place to stay, there are 10 Red Cross shelters around Southeast Missouri, including one in Cape Girardeau and one in Delta.

Click here for our latest information on the power and road situation.

Due to the ice that's still clinging to many secondary roads around the area, some organizations and schools have called off events tonight. Some schools have already notified us that they'll be closed Friday.

We have staff working on several storm-related stories today. Bridget DiCosmo is traveling through hard-hit Stoddard County with photographer Elizabeth Dodd, and they'll be filing a story and photos later today.

Peg McNichol is getting information on the dangers of ice falling from buildings, while Rudi Keller checks to see how MoDOT and local governments are coping with roads that are still ice covered in many spots.

Gov. Jay Nixon is flying around the southern half of the state in a helicopter today, and he's making stops in Sikeston and Kennett. We'll have a story from his stop in Sikeston later today.

We have plenty of photos of the storm damage in our multimedia section and our Your Photos section.

And check out our blogs on storm topics to interact with other readers and the Southeast Missourian staff.

Scott City house fire

A fire destroyed a mobile home in Scott City this morning, and one of the building's occupants was treated for minor smoke inhalation.

Click here to read more.

Later today and Friday on seMissourian.com

We're all about the winter storm right now, so you can get updated information today and Friday morning on our site. We'll also have information about assistance workshops coming up to help taxpayers filing their own returns.

As always, you can contact me, Matt Sanders, with questions or comments about the website at msanders@semissourian.com or 388-3652.