QUOTE
Thousands in the dark
By Laurie Wink, The News-Dispatch
Periods of snow, with amounts totaling less than an inch, were forecast for today by the National Weather Service of Northwest Indiana. That should come as a relief from the severe sleet and ice storm that hit Saturday evening and continued into the early Sunday morning hours.
The storm left many areas of Northwest Indiana covered with one-quarter to a half-inch of ice, according to National Weather Service reports.
The Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) reported widespread power outages, with LaPorte and Porter counties hit the hardest. Downed trees, power lines and utility poles were likely to leave some areas without power for several days until repairs can be made, according to Tom Cuddy, NIPSCO public affairs manager.
Nearly 30,000 customers were without power at one point, as all available crews and additional contractors worked around the clock to restore power. By mid-afternoon on Sunday, more than 12,000 customers in Northern Indiana were still without power.
Deputy David Oldham of the LaPorte County Sheriff's Department was on duty during the storm Saturday night. He said some accidents occurred, mostly from people sliding off the roads and causing minor damage to their vehicles.
Oldham said the southern parts of the county, around Wanatah and LaCrosse, were hit the hardest with heavy ice. By 10 p.m., ice accumulations downed power lines and caused outages throughout the county, Oldham said.
The Sheriff's Department shut down U.S. 421 south of Westville, between Indiana 6 and U.S. 30, at 11:30 p.m. Saturday and the stretch did not reopen until about 6:30 p.m. Sunday. One section of U.S. 421, from Indiana 6 to County Road 900 South, remained closed because of downed power lines near Coulters Farm. Gary Pattengale, an Indiana Department of Transportation employee, had been posted at the junction of U.S. 421 and Indiana 6 for 12 hours and said he would have to leave by 8 p.m., probably before all work was completed. He said several NIPSCO poles located between County Road 800 South and County Road 900 South were leaning over and were being repaired.
The Westville area lost power at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday and power was not expected to be completely restored until at least 10 p.m. Sunday, according to Westville police. Most residents were operating on emergency generators, said Westville resident Amanda Martin, a clerk at the Old Time Foods store on U.S. 421. She said the store opened at 1 p.m. Sunday, about four hours later than usual, but was able to operate because of a generator.
Michigan City fared much better, with no power outages reported and relatively few accidents. One accident involved Michigan City Police Officer Mathew Barr, who was on patrol just after 1 a.m. Sunday when he encountered a tree laying across Springland Avenue near Emma Street. Barr was driving west on Springland at about 20 mph and tried to stop on the icy road but slid at least 12 feet, hitting the tree with the front bumper of the squad car.
“I did not see there was an entire tree down across the street,” Barr said in his report. A Street Department crew cut up the 15-inch diameter tree and freed the police car.
Chances of snow or rain are expected to continue throughout the week. The complete AccuWeather forecast is on page A6 and online at www.thenewsdispatch.com.
Nasty winter weather wasn't unique to Northwest Indiana.
A huge winter storm plowed toward the East Coast on Sunday after dumping as much as 2 feet of snow in the upper Midwest, grounding hundreds of airline flights and closing major highways on the Plains.
Eight traffic deaths were blamed on the storm, seven in Wisconsin and one in Kansas.
Utility crews labored Sunday to restore power after the storm blacked out hundreds of thousands of homes and business in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and Ohio. One Iowa utility alone had more than 500 miles of power lines down.
Moist air the storm system pulled from the Gulf of Mexico fueled violent thunderstorms in the South, sweeping cars off roads, crumpling businesses and sending mobile homes flying. Tornadoes were reported Saturday in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
By Laurie Wink, The News-Dispatch
Periods of snow, with amounts totaling less than an inch, were forecast for today by the National Weather Service of Northwest Indiana. That should come as a relief from the severe sleet and ice storm that hit Saturday evening and continued into the early Sunday morning hours.
The storm left many areas of Northwest Indiana covered with one-quarter to a half-inch of ice, according to National Weather Service reports.
The Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) reported widespread power outages, with LaPorte and Porter counties hit the hardest. Downed trees, power lines and utility poles were likely to leave some areas without power for several days until repairs can be made, according to Tom Cuddy, NIPSCO public affairs manager.
Nearly 30,000 customers were without power at one point, as all available crews and additional contractors worked around the clock to restore power. By mid-afternoon on Sunday, more than 12,000 customers in Northern Indiana were still without power.
Deputy David Oldham of the LaPorte County Sheriff's Department was on duty during the storm Saturday night. He said some accidents occurred, mostly from people sliding off the roads and causing minor damage to their vehicles.
Oldham said the southern parts of the county, around Wanatah and LaCrosse, were hit the hardest with heavy ice. By 10 p.m., ice accumulations downed power lines and caused outages throughout the county, Oldham said.
The Sheriff's Department shut down U.S. 421 south of Westville, between Indiana 6 and U.S. 30, at 11:30 p.m. Saturday and the stretch did not reopen until about 6:30 p.m. Sunday. One section of U.S. 421, from Indiana 6 to County Road 900 South, remained closed because of downed power lines near Coulters Farm. Gary Pattengale, an Indiana Department of Transportation employee, had been posted at the junction of U.S. 421 and Indiana 6 for 12 hours and said he would have to leave by 8 p.m., probably before all work was completed. He said several NIPSCO poles located between County Road 800 South and County Road 900 South were leaning over and were being repaired.
The Westville area lost power at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday and power was not expected to be completely restored until at least 10 p.m. Sunday, according to Westville police. Most residents were operating on emergency generators, said Westville resident Amanda Martin, a clerk at the Old Time Foods store on U.S. 421. She said the store opened at 1 p.m. Sunday, about four hours later than usual, but was able to operate because of a generator.
Michigan City fared much better, with no power outages reported and relatively few accidents. One accident involved Michigan City Police Officer Mathew Barr, who was on patrol just after 1 a.m. Sunday when he encountered a tree laying across Springland Avenue near Emma Street. Barr was driving west on Springland at about 20 mph and tried to stop on the icy road but slid at least 12 feet, hitting the tree with the front bumper of the squad car.
“I did not see there was an entire tree down across the street,” Barr said in his report. A Street Department crew cut up the 15-inch diameter tree and freed the police car.
Chances of snow or rain are expected to continue throughout the week. The complete AccuWeather forecast is on page A6 and online at www.thenewsdispatch.com.
Nasty winter weather wasn't unique to Northwest Indiana.
A huge winter storm plowed toward the East Coast on Sunday after dumping as much as 2 feet of snow in the upper Midwest, grounding hundreds of airline flights and closing major highways on the Plains.
Eight traffic deaths were blamed on the storm, seven in Wisconsin and one in Kansas.
Utility crews labored Sunday to restore power after the storm blacked out hundreds of thousands of homes and business in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and Ohio. One Iowa utility alone had more than 500 miles of power lines down.
Moist air the storm system pulled from the Gulf of Mexico fueled violent thunderstorms in the South, sweeping cars off roads, crumpling businesses and sending mobile homes flying. Tornadoes were reported Saturday in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.