DALLAS — A slow-moving wintry storm system that has been blamed for more than a dozen deaths began moving eastward out of Texas on Saturday but kept coating some states to the north in ice, making driving dangerous.
The band of storms that has been moving through parts of the Plains and the Midwest since Thursday has been blamed for at least 14 deaths, including eight in Texas and six in Kansas. A 70-year-old woman whose car was swept away by flash flooding Friday in Fort Worth remained missing Saturday.
Although the icy conditions were expected to persist in parts of Oklahoma and Kansas through the end of Saturday, temperatures on Sunday were expected to be above freezing in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, allowing the region to thaw out, the National Weather Service said.
After “a major refreeze (Saturday night), we’re expecting a much better day (Sunday), and Monday is expected to be beautiful,” said Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Paul Braun.
On Saturday, authorities in Kansas blamed icy roads for four traffic deaths near Wichita on Friday, adding to two others in the state on Thursday.
In central and southwestern Oklahoma, broken ice-covered tree limbs downed power lines and cut electricity to more than 60,000 customers.
Northeastern Texas and central Arkansas were still expecting up to 4 more inches of rain, adding to the threat of flooding.
