OHIO Winter storm dumps snow, ice; power cut

Suburban Dayton got up to two feet of snow.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Ohioans broke out sleeping bags and kept an eye on the thermostat Thursday as power companies worked to restore electricity to hundreds of thousands of customers after a storm of heavy snow and ice that caused four deaths.
While little additional snow was forecast, temperatures were expected to plummet to subzero by Christmas Day as people dug out of more than a foot of snow, including a record 16 inches in Dayton.
Donned extra clothes
"When we see our breath in our house we might have to make a decision," said Nancy Kreemer, 43, who lit a fire and donned extra clothes after her suburban Columbus neighborhood was left without power.
In nearby Whitehall, accountant Dan McGrew fired up his propane heater, took out a sleeping bag and put in a call to an outdoorsy friend.
"Hopefully, he'll have some tips for me," said McGrew, 51.
Others without power decided to stay with relatives, check in to hotel rooms or go to shelters.
Salt trucks could not keep up with the steady drizzle and unplowed side roads and frozen-shut cars shut down the morning commute in much of the state.
Kashiba Allen, 14, of Cincinnati, was among people who ventured out to finish Christmas shopping.
Doesn't care
Allen, who took a bus downtown, said she didn't care that it would be white Christmas.
"It's too cold. I'd rather it be hot," she said with a grin.
Heavy snow in Bellefontaine about an hour northwest of Columbus blocked streets and prevented residents from leaving their houses. The National Weather Service said the area was one of the hardest hit, with up to 20 inches of snow.
"It is 100 percent snowed in," said Jack Ackerman, 75, a retired grocery store owner whose patio was covered by a five-foot drift. "It would be almost impossible to get out and be able to do anything."
Flights were delayed or canceled at Columbus and Dayton airports as crews struggled to clear runways and de-ice planes. Some passengers stranded at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport split the cost of hiring buses to take them to airports in Louisville and Lexington, Ky.
Many tractor-trailers drove with blinking hazard lights, cars were in ditches and medians along freeways and hundreds of fender benders were reported throughout the state. Heavy and snow and ice toppled trees into homes and collapsed part of a warehouse roof in suburban Cincinnati.
The storm that started Wednesday dumped up to two feet of snow in suburban Dayton in southwest Ohio, and Dayton's 16 inches of accumulation broke the city's single snowstorm record of about 13 inches in a January 1978 blizzard.
Significant storm
"If it's breaking 25-year-old records it's a pretty significant snow storm," said Jeffrey Sites, a National Weather Service meteorologist in southwest Ohio.
Freezing rain kept accumulation totals down in counties from Cincinnati to Columbus. Heavy snow turned to sleet and rain then back to snow again in northeast Ohio.
Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell ordered a major east-west thoroughfare closed so crews could clear it of slush.
Only scattered flurries were left by midday Thursday. Strong winds and a low of five degrees below zero was expected for Christmas Day, with highs only about 10 degrees, Sites said.
Some parts of the state escaped the storm. In southeast Ohio, rain fell Thursday morning before turning briefly to snow, then stopping, the weather service said.
Electric companies said 360,000 homes and businesses were without power across the state.
Most outages were around the Columbus area, and American Electric Power spokeswoman Terri Flora said lights and heat may not be turned on for some customers until Friday. Cinergy Corp., which serves southwest Ohio, said some rural customers may not have power until Saturday.
Three people died in separate car accidents in central and northern Ohio, police said.
In northeast Ohio, Joan Socha, 76, died of an apparent heart attack Wednesday afternoon while shoveling snow off her driveway, Lorain County Coroner Paul Matus said.
Mini-explosion
In the Columbus suburb of Bexley, Lenny Kolada and his wife, Joan, were awakened early Thursday by a "mini-explosion" -- the failure of an electric transformer across the street. The temperature in his house was in the 40s by mid-day.
He quickly decided to close the two restaurants he owns.
"I concluded the only customers we'd see today are silly customers," Kolada said.