Tales from the storm: Hospitals open, malls (mostly) closed, airport update

UPDATE: Hospitals in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City are reporting few weather-related injuries.

At St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids, two people were brought in this morning with chest pains after shoveling snow and a few people were treated Tuesday for minor injuries from car accidents, spokeswoman Sarah Corizzo said.

Things have been relatively light at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, with the emergency room seeing a few minor injuries from falls, spokeswoman Karen Vander Sanden said.

“Their guess is people are staying hunkered down,” she said.

When people start venturing outside, the number of injuries may increase, she said.

The emergency room at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is experiencing its regular level of traffic, with some injuries weather-related, although specific numbers were not immediately available, spokesman Tom Moore said.

“So far, we have not seen a significant increase,” he said.

Information was not immediately available from Mercy Iowa City.

Meanwhile, reports from 25 hospitals in Iowa showed all are open in today's blizzard and running on regular power, according to the Iowa Hospital Association.

The group noted most hospitals have closed outlying clinics for the day, though some in lesser impacted areas may open clinics this afternoon, and nearly all have canceled non-emergency surgeries.

Early warnings about the storm are credited with avoiding adverse situations.

For example, no reports of sheltered motorists or others have been received, though hospitals were prepared to fulfill this role, according to the association.

Also, hospitals have been able to keep up staffing levels as many of those scheduled to work today came in Tuesday afternoon and spent the night in the hospital or staff already in the hospital simply stayed on for another day.

Still, some staff in more rural areas were unable to report or were brought in through four-wheel-drive car pools that also brought in other emergency personnel, such as police, firefighters and public works staff. -- Gregg Hennigan and Cindy Hadish

Malls (mostly) closed

Although Coral Ridge Mall plans to open at noon, shoppers will find only a few anchor stores open at other area malls.

The status of area malls today is:

• Lindale Mall, Cedar Rapids: Closed, except for Sears, Younkers and Hy-Vee.
• Coral Ridge Mall, Coralville: Sears, Younkers, and Target open regular hours. Rest of mall opens at noon.
• Westdale Mall, Cedar Rapids: JCPenney and Younkers open at noon. Rest of mall closed today.
• Tanger Outlet Center, Williamsburg: Closed all day.
• Kennedy Mall, Dubuque: Open all day. -- Dave DeWitte

Nearly all flights at airport canceled

Here's the latest flight information from The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, courtesy of Pam Hinman:

• American Eagle - All arrivals and departures canceled for today.
• United - NEW INFORMATION: Tthree "overnight" flights are scheduled to come into Cedar Rapids tonight, including an 8:55 p.m. arrival from Chicago, a 10:06 p.m. arrival from Chicago and a 11:52 p.m. arrival from Denver.
• Delta - First possible flight coming in is from Detroit at 4:30 p.m. Second one possibly coming in is 4:34 p.m. from Minneapolis.
• Allegiant Air - No flights were scheduled for today.

Travelers are advised to call their airline's toll-free number for up-to-date cancellation and delay information. -- Staff report

Ambulance, fire truck stuck en route to call

A fire truck and ambulance got stuck this morning en route to a medical call at Mount Mercy College, but the patient ended up getting the required medical care.

Fire department spokesman Greg Buelow said the department's Quint 7 fire truck and an ambulance were stuck in the snow on a hill near Mount Mercy's Regina Hall around 7:30 a.m. today. The crews were responding to a report of abdominal pain.

The Fire Department called for a wrecker, but crews were able to get the truck unstuck prior to the towing company's arrival, Buelow said.

Emergency were able to take medical equipment and walk to the dormitory, and the patient was taken to a second ambulance to be transported for medical treatment. -- Staff report

No FedEx deliveries today

The snowstorm has stopped FedEx deliveries.

“I've been with FedEx ten years, and this is the third time I can remember doing this,” said Stephanie McAtee, operations manager at the FedEx terminal at the airport.

Scheduled pickups are still possible, but at noon, FedEx officials may decide to cancel those as well, and it's not likely they'd leave Cedar Rapids anyway. A plane full of packages from Tuesday is still sitting on the ground.

“The airport is still closed, as far as I know,” McAtee said. (In reality, the airport is open, but no flights are currently departing.) -- Adam Belz

Courthouse closed, but court clerks working

All the Linn County offices are closed today, but nine or 10 district and court clerks who live nearby came into work to take advantage of the quiet day and work on paperwork from last week's furlough day.

Roxanne Repstien, trial court supervisor, said all the judicial employees had the option to work today. The courthouse and clerk's office is closed to the public, but it's an opportunity for them to catch up. The employees could take a vacation day, take the day unpaid or come to work, Repstien said.

Repstien said many of the employees who came in today were from the Westdale office, because that office is closed even for employees. --

Trish Mehaffey