HANCOCK COUNTY — Snowblowers were in full force, trucks were plowing and kids — those who were out of school, anyway — were taking advantage of a snow day Monday sledding and playing outdoors thanks to two solid rounds of snow to kick off the week.
While the sight of a crisp white blanket of fresh snow is beautiful to behold, it can be nerve-wracking and treacherous for those who have drive in it or clear it off the streets.
The second major snowfall of the season — and the first in five weeks — dropped an estimated 3 to 6 inches throughout the area starting about 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15. A winter storm warning was also in effect from through 7 a.m. today (Dec. 17). An additional 2 to 4 inches was possible.
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Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon and Southern Hancock officials called off school on Monday and elected to let their students have an E-learning day, working from home. Eastern Hancock students were on a two-hour delay, but officials called off all evening activities as the second round of snow began falling early Monday afternoon.
That gave crews just enough time to keep up with the weather, but it was a big job.
“We’ve been going since 6 o’clock Sunday night,” said Gary Pool, head of the Hancock County Highway Department.
His crews had already hit all of the county roads twice as of noon Monday, and they planned to hit them again Monday evening when the second round of snow was expected to settle in over the area.
They had 10 trucks out plowing and salting pretty much nonstop after the first flakes started falling.
“We’re fully out and we’ll be out all night and we’ll be out tomorrow (Tuesday) all day,” Pool said. “We put people in trucks and we load them with salt and we plow until we can relieve them with another person.”
The Greenfield Street Department had 14 trucks and a few other pieces of equipment — such as ATVs with plows and a tractor with a push box — working to clear streets, said Tyler Rankins, head of the street department.
Crews spent the majority of Monday cleaning up intersections and widening the plowed paths along streets to allow more space for the second round of snowfall expected Monday night into this morning.
The timing of the two bands of snowfall was tricky, officials said. Getting the drivers time to rest has been a top priority.
Matt Holland, deputy chief and public information officer for the Greenfield Police Department, noted the city streets were in good shape after crews had been out Monday and the afternoon temperatures helped melt away most of what was on the streets.
“We’re all doing pretty good, and the roads seem to be pretty good here in town,” Holland said.
City police reported a small number of accidents and slide-offs. Holland did remind people who park on the streets to try to find parking space elsewhere to help plow truck drivers.
Despite the efforts of the road crews, Misty Moore, director of Hancock County Emergency Management, have several slide-offs and accidents occurred late Sunday and early Monday. She expected the same thing Monday night and early today.
“The suggestion would be to continue with a cautious mindset,” Moore said.
