More than six inches of snow paired with 60-plus mph winds left impassable roads, more than 100 cars stuck in ditches and drifts, and a mess for area first responders and road departments to work through.
“It’s been busy,” said Webster County Emergency Management Coordinator Dylan Hagen.
Hagen spent most of Wednesday morning checking on stranded motorists in the county’s side-by-side Polaris Ranger.
“I just finished checking on vehicles up by MidAmerican on First Avenue South,” said Hagen. “There’s four vehicles stuck up there and even more stuck in ditches and drifts throughout the county. When local officials ask you to stay home, there’s a reason for that. Please heed the warnings and listen.”
Hagen said it wasn’t just cars that were stuck throughout the county. There were reports of jackknifed semis stuck on the Kalo hill and on the hill between Dayton and Stratford on Iowa Highway 175.
“The plows are out as workers are able to get into their local shops,” said Hagen. “But opening the roads is difficult because they’re drifting shut as quickly as they’re opened.”
Webster County Chief Deputy Derek Christie turned vehicles around on the Iowa Highway 175 hill outside of Dayton for hours Wednesday after a semi jackknifed halfway down the hill.
“If you can stay home, please do,” said Christie. “Right now there are around 50 vehicles stuck in dutches and in drifts and at least two big county plows and a maintainer that are stuck. As soon as they’re pulled out, they’ll get back to work.”
According to Christie, there continued to be multiple impassible roads both in Fort Dodge and in the county.
“Plows are getting out as they’re able and will be pulled at dark because of visibility,” said Christie. “If the winds pick up again, they’ll drift back in and deteriorate. We’re going to keep going as long as we can.”
City of Fort Dodge plows fought the winds and snow as well. Fort Dodge Public Works Director Brett Daniel said the city had 10 plows, four loaders, and a grader going throughout the day to clear emergency routes.
There were impassable areas on the outskirts of town, specifically 32nd Street by WalMart and First Avenue South by MidAmerican Energy. Daniel said those areas were more difficult to plow because of stranded vehicles that then required tow trucks.
According to Daniel, city plows continued to focus on clearing emergency routes, but were able to break off and get some residential areas plowed.
“We’re going to try to get at least one pass through in residential areas before the core crew heads home for the night,” said Daniel. “Then in the morning we’ll come back and start all over again.”
First response agencies weren’t just fighting snow and wind throughout the blizzard, they were also fighting power outages. More than 9,000 customers in Fort Dodge were without power Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. By noon Wednesday, 5,078 residents were awaiting power and by 4 p.m.. 1,580 residents were still without power.
-Messenger photo by Britt KudlaCars are in the ditch on Webster County Road D20 near Duncombe on Wednesday.
Three operations staff members were at the airport clearing snow all day. Chambers said she didn’t know if the airport would be open for flights on Thursday.
While agencies continue clearing snow from Tuesday’s blizzard, the National Weather Service has forecast another four-to-six-inches of snow for Webster County beginning later today.
“So many people are out working in this,” said Christie. “EMS, fire departments, law enforcement, hospital staff, there are so many people helping others in adverse conditions and I just want to say thank you to every single one. And then we get to do it all over again on Thursday and Friday.”
