New storm may put more Iowans in the dark

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By Dan Gearino | Wednesday, February 28, 2007 1:11 AM CST | () comments

JOHNSTON, Iowa — With another winter storm on the way, Gov. Chet Culver said vulnerable Iowans who are without electricity should immediately seek other shelter.

“We need you to go to a shelter, and we need you to do it now,” Culver said. “And we need your friends and loved ones to make that happen.”

The governor and other top state officials held a briefing Tuesday at Iowa National Guard headquarters in Johnston.

Culver said nearly 100,000 households remain without power, down from 130,000 on Monday and down from a high of 265,000 on Sunday. However, he said a new storm expected to hit today could lead to another rise in power outages.

David Miller, administrator of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the forecast from the National Weather Service shows that the incoming storm will affect most of the state.

“What concerns us about this storm is that it’s tracking from southwest to northeast,” he said. That route would go right through the east-central Iowa counties that were hit hardest over the weekend.

State officials consider the threat great enough that they have made a statewide warning about the potential danger from the new storm. In some areas, including the Iowa Quad-Cities, this warning has triggered automatic phone calls to residents in which a recorded message gives information about the storm.

A spokesman for the emergency management department said there are three confirmed deaths related to the last storm, although he expects the number to rise. This includes a utility worker who fell to his death Monday while making repairs.

Culver spoke about a man in the Grinnell area who died from inhaling fumes from a portable heating system. The man was not among the confirmed deaths.

“There will be more (deaths), and that’s unacceptable as far as I’m concerned,” Culver said.

He advised vulnerable Iowans, particularly the elderly, to call 911 and ask for transportation to a shelter.

Monday, there were 47 shelters open in the 60 counties that have been declared a disaster area. The National Guard has roughly two dozen armories in those counties that are ready to be used as shelters.

Dan Gearino can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 and dan.gearino@lee.net.