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COLUMBIA, Conn. - A deadly winter storm that left the nation's midsection coated in ice blew east Thursday, while crews worked to restore power to hundreds of thousands of people in the places it already hit.Some parts of the Northeast could receive up to a foot of snow, forecasters said. Schools in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced closures, in some cases before flakes even began to fall."We're definitely trying to discourage travel," said National Weather Service meteorologist Patrick Maloit.The storm was blamed for 33 deaths, mostly in traffic accidents, as it moved through the middle of the country.In Oklahoma, at least 350,932 homes and businesses still were without power early Thursday, officials said.Northeast airports were bracing for travel problems. At New York's airports, some airlines were allowing passengers to reschedule their flights free of charge. At Connecticut's largest airport, near Hartford, a dozen flights had been canceled as of 9 a.m., said John Wallace, an airport spokesman.In Yorktown, N.Y., Mitchell Hardware sold more than 25 shovels Wednesday-nearly twice as many as it usually sells in a week, said assistant manager Mike Malone.Sunshine and milder temperatures on Thursday should help cleanup efforts in much of the Plains, but another winter storm approaching from the west could dump heavy snow on parts of Oklahoma on Friday.On Wednesday, Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry toured an upscale, historic neighborhood in northwest Oklahoma City where debris from trees felled by the ice littered lawns and roadways. He called the storm one of "absolute historic proportions."More than two dozen shelters were set up at churches and community centers across the Oklahoma for people needing a warm place to stay. Exhibit halls at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City were turned into a shelter Wednesday capable of housing more than 700 people.
Wayne Wooldridge lasted only one cold, dark night in the frigid house he volunteered to watch for his son, who is deployed overseas for the U.S. Air Force."I can get bundled up pretty warm in the house, but there was no light at night," Wooldridge, 68, said Wednesday at a shelter."We get spoiled."Iowa Gov. Chet Culver has declared disaster areas in five counties. In southern Iowa's Wayne County, where power was out for much of the region, officials set up six shelters, said Bill Yeager, emergency management coordinator.Industrial-size generators, bottled water, plastic sheeting to cover 2,000 damaged roofs, and blankets arrived Wednesday via the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was authorized by President Bush's emergency disaster declaration to help all 77 Oklahoma counties clean up.At the John 3:16 Mission in Tulsa, a lottery is held each day to determine who gets a bed, and the facility is scrambling every bed, mattress and bench it has to accommodate people, said The Rev. Steve Whitaker, executive director at the mission."It's gut-wrenching to turn those guys away," he said.
As in the days of Noah....
