The Latest: Wintry storm blamed for 4 more Kansas deaths


              Krystal Wright scrapes ice from her car's windshield Friday, Nov. 27, 2015 in Wichita, Kan. The winter weather left a layer of ice on roads and cars early Friday morning after a heavy rain on Thanksgiving day that set a record with over 2 inches of rain. Brian Corn/The Wichita Eagle via AP)
Krystal Wright scrapes ice from her car's windshield Friday, Nov. 27, 2015 in Wichita, Kan. The winter weather left a layer of ice on roads and cars early Friday morning after a heavy rain on Thanksgiving day that set a record with over 2 inches of rain. Brian Corn/The Wichita Eagle via AP)

The latest on a band of storms causing wintry conditions in the nation's midsection (all times local):

1:40 p.m.

Authorities in Kansas are blaming four more traffic deaths in the Wichita area on the icy conditions gripping the state and other parts of the nation's midsection.

Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton says icy roads caused a Friday afternoon crash about 10 miles southeast of Newton that killed two people. The Kansas Turnpike Authority says two other people were killed hours later when a tractor trailer jackknifed on an icy stretch of Interstate 35 near Andover and struck an SUV.

Authorities previously blamed two Kansas traffic deaths Thursday on the wintry storm system moving through the Plains and Midwest. Officials in Texas have eight deaths on the storms since Thursday, and a person who was swept away by flash flooding remains missing.

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12:50 p.m.

Forecasters say a band of storms moving slowly through the nation's midsection is leaving Texas but will likely dump more freezing rain on parts of Oklahoma and Kansas.

The National Weather Service says the storms causing icy conditions in Oklahoma and Kansas are expected to last through Saturday night. Temperatures are expected to be above-freezing in the region on Sunday.

At least five people have died in accidents related to the ice storm, and another three have died in North Texas flash floods. One person is still missing. Thousands of people are without power as accumulated ice has downed power lines.

Meanwhile, with up to 4 inches of rain expected in northeast Texas and central Arkansas, a flash flood threat continues in North Texas and most of Arkansas.

Rain is forecast Sunday from Texas to the Mid-Atlantic states. Freezing rain is expected in southern Nebraska and central Kansas.

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