TEMA to open emergency center in ice storm

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency declared a state of emergency and opened its emergency operations center on Tuesday as an ice storm punched across the state with accumulations expected in West and Middle Tennessee and flooding reported in East Tennessee.

TEMA had received several calls about ice building up on roadways and bridges in West Tennessee, and the precipitation is expected to continue overnight into Wednesday, said Jeremy Heidt, a spokesman for the agency. He also said while East Tennessee was not expected to get ice, heavy rain in that area was causing some rivers to reach flood stage.

The National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning for much of the state west of the Cumberland Plateau. Much of West Tennessee is expected to receive between one-quarter and a half-inch of freezing rain.

Heidt said even a quarter of an inch of ice is enough to break power lines, although he said no power outages had been reported as of Tuesday afternoon.

Officials in Shelby County were monitoring the weather and road conditions, which were expected to get worse through the evening. The Memphis International Airport opened its snow command post at 2 p.m. Tuesday to prepare for weather-related problems.

"We can handle almost any snow or ice event but the passenger airlines may thin their schedules based on their ability to de-ice their aircraft or bad conditions at other airports," Airport Authority president and CEO Larry Cox told The Commercial Appeal (http://bit.ly/UOvh4dhttp://bit.ly/UOvh4d ).

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