County spared worst of winter storm as snow continues into Friday morning

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No one was willing to sit with Mr. Riley on this winter day during the winter storm warning.

Photo by Shelley Swift | Daily Reporter

HANCOCK COUNTY — The winter storm took a little longer to turn from rain into ice and sleet than officials expected, but by 11 p.m. Wednesday, residents were feeling the force of the foul weather.

A handful of residents on the north side of Wilkinson reported poles and wires down with power going out around 11:22 p.m.

“This is starting off wonderfully,” one resident wrote on the county’s 911 emergency social media site. Still, another told the Daily Reporter they had a house generator and were doing “alright” as they hoped for power to be restored by 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

While there were reports of power outages in parts of Wilkinson, Chief of Police Dennis Hoppes said they had electricity in town, and the outages were limited just north of town.

As of 10 a.m. Thursday, Electric Utility Manager Scott Yost said Greenfield had not had an outage since the storm started.

“In the unfortunate event that it would happen, we have a full staff prepped and ready to go,” Yost said.

While the winter storm warning was scheduled to remain in effect until 1 a.m. Friday, it appeared the county was spared the major brunt of the storm, but forecasts called for a chance of heavy snow heading into Thursday night. An additional snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches was projected with winds gusting as high as 35 mph.

Misty Moore, director of the Hancock County Emergency Center said things were fairly quiet overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning, but she also expected more snow as the day turned into night.

“We are currently under a yellow travel advisory but are likely moving to orange soon,” Moore said.

Moore noted county officials including the Hancock County Highway Department believed Thursday night to be the biggest challenge as temperatures were expected to drop causing the salt to work less efficiently with more snow coming.

Gary Pool, the county engineer, said wind was more of a challenge than snowfall for highway department crews out plowing Thursday. However, he added that roads were still passable.

“It’s easy to get through them if you drive slow,” Pool said. But he expected drifting to become a problem overnight with temperatures dropping, drying out the snow.

Pool said the highway department can keep 10 trucks out at a time and that it’s responsible for about 1,200 lane miles of road. With the anticipated persisting weather conditions, he expects crews will continue clearing roads through Saturday.

Greenfield Street Commissioner Tyler Rankins said he planned to have at least 16 trucks and 20 drivers out clearing roads on Thursday. “We can push that up to around 30 drivers” with help from other city departments, he said.

Capt. Robert Harris, public information officer for the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, said “so far, so good” in regards to the county roads. The department reported very few crashes and slide-offs with no injuries.

“I only hope people stay home today, so traffic remains light on the roads,” Harris said.

Officials with the Greenfield Police Department reported the same.

“We are thankful that folks have heeded the warnings and stayed home today,” Deputy Chief and Public Information Officer Chuck McMichael said. “There are very few cars traveling on the streets which makes everyone safer.”

Not all vehicles can stay off roads when ice and snow accumulates. Vernon Township Fire Chief Chad Abel said, to the best of his knowledge, that none of the fire department’s runs as of mid-morning Thursday were weather-related, but that conditions did pose difficulties for emergency vehicles making their way to calls.

“It’s certainly delaying our response times because crews are being cautious,” Abel said. “It will certainly impact our ability to respond as quick as we normally would, but at the same time we’ve made it everywhere we’ve been dispatched to so far without much of a challenge.”

While the storm has caused the county’s four school districts to shutdown and switch to either e-learning or virtual learning, the county’s offices remained open Thursday. Prosecutor Brent Eaton said they had officials in court and were operating as normal despite the foul weather.

It was the same in New Palestine where town manager Jim Robinson said town hall was open for business, but the traffic was light along U.S. 52. In McCordsville, Public Works Commissioner Ron Crider seconded Pool’s comments about gusts and drifting snow.

“The wind right now is killing us,” he said Thursday morning. “As soon as we plow it, it gets covered up again. But we’re doing OK.”

For folks needing a place to get out of the cold, the county’s warming shelter is set up at The Landing, 18 W South St, Greenfield for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and is ready to welcome residents in need of warmth, officials said. Jim Peters, director of the Hancock County Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD), noted they had four people take advantage of their location so far, but are prepared to help others.

McMichael wanted to remind people to continue to be careful as the snow piles up, the wind picks up and the chances for power outages go up. If that happens, people need to think safety first when it comes to staying warm.

“Generators and propane heaters can cause Carbon Monoxide poisoning quickly and silently if not used correctly,” McMichael said.