40 fender benders reported on snow, ice-covered roads
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Drivers may still find scattered patches of ice on some of the city’s more rural roadways this morning.
&uot;There were some pretty treacherous spots of ice out there this morning,&uot; Lt. Jim Judkins, the city’s emergency service coordinator, said Monday. &uot;It’s going be a little while – maybe mid-week – before it warms up enough to melt the ice on some shady areas of the road.&uot;
About 3/10 inch of snow blanketed the city overnight Sunday, closing schools Monday and causing multiple accidents overnight.
Temperatures plunged as low at 14 degrees at the city’s fire station on White Marsh Road early Monday, with wind gusts creating a chill factor of -5 degrees.
Heavy winds, which climbed upwards of 30 miles per hour during the storm, were gusting around 20 miles per hour for much of Monday, Judkins said.
&uot;It’s still pretty blustery,&uot; he said. &uot;With temperatures expected to climb into the 50s today, any remaining ice should melt.
The Suffolk Police Department responded to a slew of weather-related accidents – nearly 40 fender benders -between midnight Sunday and Monday morning, said Lt. Debbie George, the department’s spokeswoman.
People were injured in four of the accidents she said.
The Virginia Department of Transportation was ready for the snow, said Angela Lawler, a spokeswoman for the agency.
The agency had nearly 400 employees and 241 pieces of snow-moving equipment roll into gear in its Hampton Roads district, she said. The district began stocking supplies of salt and sand – 19,000 and 18,000 tons respectively – over the summer
&uot;Our crews had rehearsed snow removal routes and we had a good supply of salt and sand on hand to battle what Mother Nature handed our way,&uot; said C.M. Clarke, district maintenance and operations engineer for the agency’s Hampton Roads district. &uot;Crews worked around the clock to keep the roads safe.&uot;
allison.williams@suffolknewsherald.com