Deadly Winter Storm Leaves 1 Million in Dark

Jan. 28, 2009— -- At least 23 deaths, mostly traffic related, have been blamed on a lumbering winter storm that has moved eastward across the nation, dumping snow and ice and making driving treacherous.

More than 1 million people were without power, according to The Associated Press, from a wintry mix of snow and ice that stretches 1,400 miles across 26 states.

More than 300,000 customers in Arkansas still have no electricity from frozen power lines that snapped overnight. In Kentucky, nearly half a million are still in the cold.

"Out west, we have entire counties [that] are without heat and power," said Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear.

Poor road conditions are slowing the work of power crews. It could be several days before the power lines are restrung and the lights are on again in the hardest hit areas, officials told ABC News.

"Some of the roads are blocked out in the county," an emergency official in Madison County in Kentucky told ABC News affiliate WKYT. "And even driving around in town is pretty dangerous. It's a war zone."

Charles and Barbara Caswell, ice storm victims from Louisville, moved into a local shelter for the night for heat powered by generators. They had to leave their Jack Russell terrier in their unheated home to comply with the rules.

The winter weather that lingered in Oklahoma and the Plains states earlier this week moved into the Northeast overnight, leaving countless commuters hammered by icy roads.

Cars have slid off roads. Power lines have collapsed under the weight of the ice. In some places, three inches of ice have piled up. Many schools are closed from Maryland to Maine as the storm travels east.

"The primary impacts will be to transportation," National Weather Service meteorologist Art Kraus told "Good Morning America" Wednesday. "Many highways will be impassable or closed, and we could have thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people without power."

In Oklahoma, the storm's destructive march caused more than 900 car accidents. Power lines blocked roadways in Cincinnati, creating dangerous obstacles for drivers.

"People were driving by, seeing it and slamming on their breaks and sliding once they realized there was a line right in the road," said Cincinnati resident Ellen Hoh.