Wind thwarts W. Iowa drivers

Motel clerk Wanda Sampson can thank Mother Nature for a boost in business.

“It's been really quiet for the past few weeks,” Sampson said Wednesday from a motel near Atlantic, Iowa. “But everyone here now is planning on staying for a while.”

Sampson's employer — Americas Best Value Inn — was a refuge for 12 motorists stranded by the early December storm that pummeled much of the Midwest this week.

Most remained at the motel, which is just south of Interstate 80, late Wednesday, biding their time until the heavy winds and blowing snow died down, Sampson said.

“I'm looking outside right now,” she said, “and I can't even see the Interstate.”

Iowans spent Wednesday digging themselves out of heavy, drifting snow. Atlantic had among the highest snowfall totals in the state, with 16 inches reported.

At the height of the storm, hundreds of drivers had to abandon their vehicles after sliding off snow-covered highways. The storm shut down highways and closed schools across Iowa.

There was some good news.

By late Wednesday, road and weather conditions in western Iowa were improving, said Dena Gray-Fisher, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Transportation.

National Guardsmen were among those who rescued nine motorists stranded in three vehicles along U.S. Highway 6 between Council Bluffs and Oakland, said Trooper Scott Pigsley of the Iowa State Patrol.

In Page County, Clarinda declared a snow emergency.

“Mother Nature has the upper hand until the wind dies down,” Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers said.

Brothers said residential streets were impassable without a four-wheel-drive vehicle, and even then it was tricky.

Clarinda Regional Health Center supplied cots for those who could not make it home overnight Tuesday.

Shenandoah, west of Clarinda, reported snowdrifts of 5 feet and higher.

In Oakland, progress was being made on clearing snow from city streets, said Mayor Tim White. “We've got a good crew,” he said. “They've been up all night, just like everybody else.”

Parts of I-80 and I-35, closed earlier in the day, reopened Wednesday afternoon.

Conditions were better near Harlan and Denison. Law enforcement officials in both Shelby and Crawford Counties said rural county roads were snow-covered, but the main roadways had been cleared for the most part.

“Travel is still a little bit risky,” said Chief Deputy Rod McMurphy of the Shelby County Sheriff's Office. “There is still blowing snow, and the winds are pretty high yet.”

Jay Pollard, a salesman from Canton, Ohio, said he wasn't going anywhere. His rental car slid into a ditch Tuesday morning as he tried to leave an Atlantic truck stop.

Pollard was headed east before he got stranded. On Wednesday afternoon, he was staying put at the motel in Atlantic. Pollard said he wouldn't leave until it was safe to hit the road.

“It's miserable out there,” he said. “I can't imagine anybody driving in this for a while.”

This report includes material from the World-Herald News Service and Associated Press.

Contact the writer:

444-3100, maggie.obrien@owh.com

« Metro/Region

Share