Sheriff declares county snow emergency

Van Wert independent

Unlike a good portion of Ohio, Van Wert County escaped the more serious effects of the winter storm that dumped snow and some ice on the county Monday, Tuesday and today, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a memorable storm even here.

County EMA Director Rick McCoy said this morning that the county received 6.2 inches of snow, .12 inch of ice in the form of freezing rain and 1.2 inches of sleet, which McCoy called “our saving grace.

“Had it been snow instead, we would have had 12 inches of snow,” McCoy said. “Thank goodness for sleet.”

Even a half-inch of ice here, though, would be preferable to the 1½ inches of ice the Miami Valley is expected to see from the storm. Widespread power outages were predicted over much of the central and southern portions of the state because of icing and high winds expected to kick in after the storm is over.

While the local area also saw around six inches or so of snow, that’s also less than northern Ohio counties that were expected to get nearly two feet of the white stuff.

AEP had a number of additional crews and contractors on standby that it could plug into areas where they were needed, while the Ohio Department of Transportation also had a number of extra crews available for rerouting to where they were most needed.

Locally, plans were put in place for shelters, if widespread outages would occur. The Van Wert County Chapter of the American Red Cross had planned sites for two shelters, if needed and approval is given by the County Health Department.

Those plans and others were part of meetings held prior to the storm here in the county and elsewhere in the projected path of the storm.

The blowing and drifting caused by winds of up to 35 mph on Tuesday was a problem, though, forcing Van Wert County Sheriff Stan Owens to declare a snow emergency for the county overnight Tuesday and into this morning.

The snow emergency bans all vehicles from operating on county thoroughfares except for emergency travel. Snowplows were also pulled from the roads at 11 p.m. Tuesday to keep them safe.

Van Wert County schools are all closed today for the second day in a row and a number of entities such as churches have canceled activities for the day as well.

Meanwhile, no reports have given the amount of snow and ice seen here in Van Wert County, although it is expected that the snowfall will likely be significantly below the 10 inches originally forecast.