Commuters contended with treacherous roads Monday from the U.S.'s southern Plains to the Northeast as a storm spread a coating of ice and freezing rain linked to at least 13 traffic deaths, according to AP. Thousands of people had no electricity and airline flights were canceled Monday in Oklahoma. During the weekend, hundreds of flights had been grounded because of the weather. Ice storm warnings, freezing rain advisories, winter storm watches and winter weather advisories extended along a cold front from Texas to New Hampshire. The wintry weather was expected to continue through midweek. Oklahoma was especially hard hit, with a quarter-million customers blacked out Monday morning and schools closed across the state. The Highway Patrol discouraged travel for the whole state. Ice accumulations already a half-inch thick were reported Sunday in parts of Oklahoma and could build up to as much as an inch thick in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, the weather service said. Blackouts affecting thousands of customers also were reported Sunday in parts of Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. In the Northeast on Monday, many schools across upstate New York were closed or started late because of icy roads. Last Monday, a mixture of snow, rain and sleet closed schools across a large area of upstate New York state. On ice-covered Interstate 40 west of Okemah, Oklahoma, four people died in «one huge cluster of an accident» that involved 11 vehicles, including a tractor-trailer rig, said Highway Patrol Trooper Betsey Randolph. All 11 vehicles burned, she said. Eight other people also died on icy Oklahoma roads, and Missouri had one death on a slippery highway. In addition, a transient died of hypothermia in Oklahoma City, the state medical examiner's office said. Missouri Governor Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency Sunday and activated the National Guard to aid communities affected by the storm. In Chicago, poor weather and low visibility forced the cancellation of more than 400 flights Sunday at O'Hare International Airport, authorities said. About two dozen flights were canceled at Kansas City International Airport, and 13 were canceled at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis.
