Ice storm busts into county
If you left your house late Tuesday afternoon, you're a brave soul — because it was downright slippery out there.
A winter ice storm swept into Kansas on Tuesday, bringing with it layers of ice that coated Marion County roads and cars.
The ice posed a special problem for those driving on the roads yesterday.
As the afternoon rolled on, every law enforcement agency in the county was kept busy with accidents, cars in ditches, and semis jacknifing on the highway. But there were no significant injuries reported.
The heaviest time for officers was between 4 and 7 p.m., according to Sheriff Lee Becker. That's when calls came pouring in from every quadrant of the county.
The dispatch office had its hands full, answering calls from people who often reported a wreck that had already been reported, Becker said. The dispatcher often got 10 to 15 calls for one wreck and had to sort out which calls were new and which were already being taken care of.
At least seven semis either jackknifed, stalled, or slid into ditches, according to sheriffs' reports. The number of cars sliding into ditches was higher.
One problem that officers faced was controlling traffic. In several instances, a stuck or jacknifed semi held up traffic on Highway 50.
Another problem was getting the wreckers to the locations. Markley's Service of Marion, the county's wrecking service, kept busy from 1:30 to 9:30 p.m., said Darvin Markley.
Markley's has three wreckers, and most of those were going the entire afternoon. The trouble was getting to and from the accidents — his drivers couldn't go any faster than other cars on the ice, Markley said.
The icy conditions forced school closures at Hillsboro on Wednesday and a two-hour delay for Goessel students. Tuesday night's boys' sub-state game was rescheduled for Thursday afternoon at 3.
