Tuesday night’s blizzard kept LPD officers and LSO deputies extremely busy. LPD says Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning they responded to 28 crashes, 31 motorist assist calls and 17 check welfare calls.
There were also 18 traffic hazard calls, including traffic signal malfunctions, along with many other calls for service. “The roads remain slick outside and some are ice-covered. We urge drivers to give
themselves extra time to reach their destination and plenty of extra space between vehicles to avoid collisions.” says Public Information Officer Erika Thomas.
Lancaster County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Ben Houchin says deputies only responded to two accidents during the storm, but they handled 80 motorist assist calls. “This is one of the highest totals that we have had in many years.”
He says some vehicles became stuck in the middle of the road because of the drifting and slick conditions underneath. “Also, they will slide off into the ditch and there’s really no damage to the vehicles, they just can get out.”
Houchin says one deputy became stuck in the snow for several hours and two county snowplows also became stuck. He says a lot of the calls were for people trying to get home last night and getting to work Wednesday morning.
“It’s always better if we have these on the weekends because a lot of people don’t work,” Houchin says. “Today, if you don’t have to go into work, you don’t have to be someplace, please stay at home.”
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