The entire city of Centralia and more than 1,400 Howard Electric Cooperative customers in Howard and Randolph were left without power Friday afternoon.
Boone County emergency responders said in a public warning shortly before 4 p.m. that Centralia was experiencing a slow power outage. Centralia operates its own municipal utility system. Other details were not immediately available.
The interruptions of Howard Electric Cooperatives are so widespread that aid seeks help from cooperatives in Boone and Macon, said Richard Fowler, CEO of Howard Electric. Fowler said the Howard crew has been working since 7 a.m. to restore the strength of hundreds of cooperating members.
The Missouri Association of Electric Cooperatives interruption map showed nearly 500 members in Howard and more than 800 members in Randolph without power on Friday afternoon. Ameren Missouri’s interruption map reported 260 customers without power in Randolph County and more than 600 in the dark in Monroe County.
Amerie Missouri spokeswoman Jenny Barth said the utility called in additional crew programs to help with disruptions, which occurred in Central Missouri and St. Louis. Louis is concentrated. Line workers will work through the night to restore power, she said.
The icy rain that swept through Mid-Missouri overnight led to disruptions in the area, with Howard and Randolph hitting the local provinces hardest. The ice storm also covered roads throughout the area, though the primary routes cleared on Friday afternoon after temperatures broke freezing.
The Missouri Department of Transportation’s online road condition map showed improvements on Interstate 70 and Highways 63 and 50. However, roads in the northwestern part of the area remained covered or partially covered with ice and snow.
Power outages continue as ice clings to trees, lines
Temperatures climbed just above freezing in parts of Mid-Missouri on Friday morning and ice began to melt from roads and trees.
However, the power outages of trees and power lines dragged through an ice sheet continued.
Co-Mo Electric Cooperative reported about 1,300 of its customers shortly before lunch. Some of the largest individual disruptions in the cooperative were in the provinces of Cooper and Moniteau.
Boone Electric Cooperative reports that about 120 of its members were without power during the outages in the country.
Ameren Missouri reported mostly small, scattered disruptions in the area just before lunch. These outages had one in Moberly that affected about 470 customers.
The Howard Electric Cooperative reported that more than 400 of its members were without electricity. More than 600 members of the cooperative in Randolph County were without electricity.
Check out a 10:00 update on the player below.
Highway patrol reports dozens of accidents, stranded drivers
Missouri State Highway Patrol troops in central Missouri have been helping dozens of stranded and crashed motorists since midnight.
The agency’s troop F, which covers a large part of the area, said on Friday morning that its troops had been sent since midnight after 26 accidents and 13 stranded driver calls as a winter storm that covered roads across the area with ice.
The ice also stranded an ambulance in Silvey Drive in western Columbia as it tried to climb a steep hill. No patient was on board.
The roads started to improve just after 10:00, as the temperature climbed above freezing in some places. Parts of Interstate 70 and Highway 63 in central Missouri have gone from partially covered to mostly clear or distinct, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation’s online travel map.
Another round of winter precipitation is expected to hit the area on Friday afternoon, followed by a drop in temperature.
State roads remain smooth, says MoDOT
State roads around Mid-Missouri remained partially covered with ice at 8 a.m. Friday.
The Missouri Department of Transportation posted an update on the condition of the road on its social media accounts, saying many roads in the area are mostly covered and drivers should watch out for low-hanging limbs and power lines being dragged by ice.
The agency later reported Highway 54 was reopened in Fulton.
MoDOT’s online travel information map showed several area roads in bad shape, with ice partially covering Interstate 70 and Highways 63 and 54 through Mid-Missouri.
The agency continued to warn of delays on Route T in Macon County, just north of Randolph County, due to an uprooted tree in the road.
Temperatures have started to rise in some parts of the area just above freezing, but are not expected to rise much during the day. More winter precipitation is expected.
Ice on tree members and power lines continued to contribute to power outages, with the report that Columbia Water and Light reported, affecting more than 200 customers along Stadium Boulevard and part of Southern Columbia. Ameren Missouri reported on disruptions in the area, including 250 customers in the Ashland area.
The city of Columbia said a new crew member arrived at 7 a.m. to work on the roads.
Crew blocks 54 West Highway in Fulton for utility
The Missouri Department of Transportation said crews blocked the western roads of Highway 54 in Fulton due to power lines across the roadway.
Crews said there is a detour for people driving in the area.
According to the MoDOT Traveler Map, the highway could be closed for up to four hours. This includes that the eastern lanes are not affected.
Driving conditions worsen, with more power outages reported in Mid-Missouri
Central Missouri officials say driving conditions have deteriorated and more power outages have been reported on New Year’s Day as ice rain continues to fall.
A tweet from MoDOT says a majority of the roads throughout Mid-Missouri are partially to mostly covered, as ice rain is still falling in the area. Crews said the winter weather was creating dangerous driving conditions.
Separately, the Missouri Association of Electric Cooperatives interruption card said more than 8,500 electrical customers across the state have no power from 6 p.m.
The map said a dozen electric cooperatives in Mid-Missouri reported disruptions – including 779 customers in Cooper County, 447 in Pettis County, 623 in Benton County, 1,329 in Morgan County, 209 in Camden County, 261 in Miller County, 340 in, affected. Maries County.
There were also several disruptions in the counties of Cole, Boone, Callaway, Osage, Moniteau and Randolph that affected less than 100 customers.
An ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather Alert Day is in effect for winter weather on New Year’s Day.
Crew members report power outages in Western Columbia due to multiple power outages
Boone County emergency crews reported Friday morning that cut-off power lines partially cover a road in western Columbia.
A tweet from Boone County Joint Communications said the dropped lines at College Park were reported just north of Stadium Boulevard.
The Columbia Water and Light Interruption Map reported that 426 electrical customers in the area were without power.
At least ten interruptions have been reported between Stadium Boulevard and Interstate 70.
The card included 366 customers near the Columbia Mall who were also without power Friday morning. It’s off at 1,299 without lights when the break was first reported at 04:12
It was not immediately clear whether freezing rain played a role in the multiple interruptions.
More than 1,700 electric cooperating customers without power in Mid-Missouri
Online electrical collaboration data said more than 1,700 customers were without power early Friday morning.
The online outage card from the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives said customers in Morgan and Miller counties were affected by the outages.
According to the interruption map, 1,129 Co-Mo Electric Co-op customers were in Morgan County, 406 Gasconade Electric Cooperative customers in Miller County and 192 Three Rivers Electric Co-op were also in Miller County in the dark.
Minor outages affecting less than ten customers each were also reported in Boone, Cole and Monroe counties.
It is unclear whether the winter weather in the area caused the disruptions. Freezing rain has been falling in the area since late Thursday night.
Crew battle flames on Sharon Lane
Boone County firefighters were called to a structural fire in Sharon Lane Block 6000 early after New Year’s Day.
Firefighters responded to the scene around 12:30 a.m. to set a barn on fire. The owner of the barn spoke to an ABC 17 News crew and said he believed a wood stove caused the fire.
Crew problems experienced difficulty initially tapping into a nearby fire hydrant due to ice forming overnight.
Firefighters said fire and smoke damage was mostly contained to the barn, but that the side of a nearby home had also been melted down. The barn smoked for more than two hours after the crew arrived on the scene.
No one was injured in the blaze, firefighters said.
Icy roads, accidents ring in the new year
ORIGINALLY: Freezing rain causes dangerous road conditions to begin in mid-Missouri 2021.
Several agencies, including Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop F and Boone County Joint Communications, are warning against driving.
Boone County emergency crews reported at least six accidents after midnight, including two on Interstate 70 and two on Highway 63.
One accident occurred on the south side of Rangelinestraat shortly before 1:30 am
Shortly after 1:30 a.m., Cole County emergency crews reported on radio traffic that both west lanes of Highway 50 near Big Horn Drive had been closed due to an accident.
ABC 17 News usually does not report radio traffic without confirming it with the response agency, but the emergency danger ‘paid attention to all media listening’.
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