Winter Storm Brings Dangerous Driving Conditions, Power Outages

It was a stark change from just a few days ago, when warm, dry conditions led to Red Flag alerts and multiple fires. Tuesday, March 4, Southeast Nebraska was hit by a winter storm that paralyzed much of the area Tuesday night and on into Wednesday.While most areas saw less than three inches of snow overnight, that snow was wet and turned to ice on streets. That ice, coupled with winds as high as 70 miles per hour, created dangerous driving conditions that persisted all night and the next day. High winds an blowing snow reduced visibility to near zero at times. Area schools and many businesses closed Wednesday. Streets, especially highways, were so treacherous that trucks scheduled to carry newspapers Wednesday morning opted to delay deliver 24 hours. Among those newspapers impacted was The Fairbury Journal-News.I-80 was closed between Grand Island and Greenwood (mm 312 to mm 417) because of impassable conditions until Wednesday morning. Even after the worst of the weather had passed, driving conditions remained dangerous due to strong winds and drifting snow in many areas.Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) responded to over 400 weather-related traffic incidents during Nebraska’s latest winter storm. Tragically, one crash near Grand Island involved multiple fatalities.Overall, troopers have responded to 31 crashes and performed over 382 motorist assists since the storm started on Tuesday. Additional troopers were called-out to help with responses Tuesday evening.Drivers can check the Nebraska 511 system for updated road conditions and closure information. Any motorist who becomes stranded can call *55 to reach the NSP Highway Helpline.In the City of Fairbury, weather conditions also left some areas without power, although not for very long. City crews endured extremely adverse conditions overnight to handle various issues. Sometime before 9 p.m., Tuesday night, two telephone poles at the intersection of 12th and C Streets were toppled by the winds. Neither hit the ground as they were help up by the telephone lines. City crews arrived at approximately 9 p.m. and braced the poles to prevent them falling any further.Wednesday morning, Fairbury Mayor Kelly Davis advised FJN, “FYI, those poles are not the city's. They belong to the phone company. Nate (Francis, Line Superintendent) notified them and they are sending a crew over.”

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