Published Tuesday
December 12, 2000
Storm Keeps Plows Busy Around the Clock
BY JAKE BLEED and TODD VON KAMPEN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERS
A storm that dropped up to 10 inches of snow on the
metro area and sent wind chills plummeting had street-maintenance crews
working overtime Monday and at least one homeless shelter struggling to
make room for everyone.
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Omaha street crews get their sand trucks filled
Monday morning. |
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Paul Koch, director of the Siena-Francis House in Omaha,
said the shelter was continuing to accept guests even though it had about
50 more than its total capacity.
"We're going to take people in even if they have to
sleep on the floor or in a chair," Koch said. "We're not going to turn
anybody out. They're going to freeze to death in this weather."
Koch said such numbers are not unusual and that Omaha's
homeless population has increased this year.
Temperatures will not recover much today. Omaha's high
- if you can call it that - should top out at 8 degrees, according to WeatherData,
The World-Herald's weather consultant.
Lows early Wednesday are expected to range from 5 degrees
below zero to 5 above, with highs of 15 to 25 degrees across Nebraska.
The forecast for Wednesday also includes a 30 percent chance of light snow.
The arctic air responsible for the cold weather also
brought snow to most of the Midlands by Monday afternoon. Accumulations
ranged from 2 to 3 inches in western parts of Nebraska to nearly 10 inches
in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. The combination of the cold and strong
winds produced wind chills of 40 degrees below zero in many areas.
The snow and cold forced many school districts to close,
made driving difficult, caused minor accidents, affected some city services
and generally made it uncomfortable - if not dangerous - to be outside.
Tom McDonald, the city's street-maintenance supervisor,
said the 150 plows at work for the city struggled against windy weather
that forced drivers to plow and replow main streets.
"That's been an ongoing problem and that's one of the
reasons we still have a number of trucks on the major streets," McDonald
said. He doubted that plows would reach all the city's streets by this
morning.
Two shifts of drivers put in 12 hours each, McDonald
said, a schedule that will probably continue until late this evening.
Schools were closed Monday in most of eastern Nebraska
and western Iowa, including Kearney, Lincoln, Broken Bow, Omaha, Bellevue,
Council Bluffs, and Atlantic. Some districts also announced late starts
for today.
Law enforcement agencies reported numerous minor fender
benders and traffic tie-ups, but few major-injury accidents Monday. In
one incident, a 47-year-old woman was taken to Omaha's Immanuel Medical
Center after a two-vehicle accident about 7:30 a.m. on U.S. Highway 75
about one mile north of the Douglas-Washington County line.
Besides accidents, the cold weather posed danger for
vehicles in general. Rose White, public-affairs director for AAA Nebraska,
said that between midnight and 3 p.m., AAA trucks responded to 474 calls,
compared with 236 last Monday.
At 3:40 p.m., Pat Barnes, manager for AAA Nebraska's
Omaha fleet, said that he had 80 people on a waiting list and that conditions
were limiting the number of people he could aid. Since he started working
at 10 p.m. Sunday, Barnes said he had helped nine people. "It seems like
you get one done and you'll get four or five people who've called in."
The weather forced Deffenbaugh Industries to cancel
its trash pickup Monday, said Norm Jackman, an engineer in the Omaha Public
Works Department. Trash and recyclable pickups will resume today. Monday's
trash will be picked up next week.
Council Bluffs officials canceled Monday's trash collection.
City crews will pick up Monday's trash when collections resume today.
World-Herald staff writer Veronica Rosman contributed
to this report. |