In Hamilton, Public Works Assistant Director Dan Arthur said salt supplies “are pretty good.”
“Obviously it’s (salt supplies) taken a hit from the storm, but with this type of storm you don’t have to salt the whole time. You’re hitting it in the beginning to get a nice layer down.”
The city brought people in early to monitor the weather during the rain Thursday, and when ice started to form mid-morning, crews went out to salt the streets “to get a layer underneath everything.”
Crews were out in 12-hour shifts.
“We were able to get ahead of it,” Arthur said. “There was a nice window in the middle of the night, around 1 a.m. when things died down so we were able to get things cleared.”
Hamilton’s streets “are in really good shape” and Arthur acknowledges there’s more to do, but by dinner time Friday – between 4 and 7 p.m. – secondary roads should be cleared.
“This is a lot of snow, so we’re far from done, but we’re on duty the whole time and our primary (roads) are in really good shape.”
WCPO meteorologists said about another 1-2 inches would fall in the Southwest Ohio region today to add to the 3 inches most Butler County communities received. The snow and ice that fell will stick around due to freezing temperatures.
The high for today is 30 degrees.
The Ohio Department of Transportation had 1,300 salt and plow trucks on the state’s roads Friday morning. Those trucks are cleaning up a mess that really hasn’t stopped since sleet began falling early Thursday.
Duke Energy was reporting 4,800 power outages in the eastern part of the Tri-State around 10 a.m. Friday.
Credit: Journal News
Freezing rain fell throughout the Southwest Ohio region all day Thursday and made Butler and Warren county roads very slick.
Fairfield Public Works Director Ben Mann said that crews Thursday night put a “pretty good dent” in the city’s salt pile “but that’s why we keep it as full as possible.”
At around noon Thursday, Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones took to Facebook to tell folks his department was preparing for a large amount of snow to fall Thursday evening into today, covering the ice. He asked everyone to stay off roadways and allow clearing crews to do their jobs more easily.
There have not been many power outages in the county. Oxford had one early Thursday that lasted about 45 minutes.
Most schools, courts and major businesses had announced closures before the sleet hit, and they are closed again today.
The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport had canceled all departing flights after noon Thursday.
SNOW EMERGENCY LEVELS
Under Ohio law, sheriffs have the responsibility to monitor conditions and declare snow emergencies when it is determined that roads and highway conditions within the county are impaired due to snow and/or ice.
There are three levels of snow emergency in Ohio:
LEVEL 1: Roadways are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. Roads are also icy. Drive very cautiously.
LEVEL 2: Roadways are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. Only those who feel it is necessary to drive should be out on the roadways. Contact your employer to see if you should report to work.
LEVEL 3: All roadways are closed to non-emergency personnel. No one should be out during these conditions unless it is absolutely necessary to travel. All employees should contact their employer to see if they should report to work. However, those traveling on the roadways may subject themselves to prosecution.