EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT)– If you traveled by car or by plane, the winter blast that overtook the nation likely impacted your plans in some way. Last Thursday’s winter storm dumped snow and ice across the country, causing accidents and canceling thousands of flights.
Shadd Miser lives in Clarksville, Tennessee and was making his way up to Fort Wayne, Indiana when the storm hit on Thursday night. What would have been a 6-hour drive quickly turned into an 8-hour drive.
“I saw 7 or 8 cars in ditches. I had to reduce the speeds and there was law enforcement on the sides of the roads, helping people that slid into ditches,” he says.
Now that the temperatures are rising, the road conditions are slowly improving. The Indiana Department of Transportation says that the weekend sunshine helped to kick-start the melting process.
“Temperatures are going up so that is going to make the salt more effective,” says Gary Brian, Public Relations Director for INDOT Southwest.
Another round of impacted the Tr-State today. But because temperatures were warmer, Brian says it was easier for their fleet to treat the roads.
“It was more straight forward, our crews were able to work with both of them. Thursday’s event was a lot harder with the flash freeze and rain beforehand,” he says.
The storm left hundreds of passengers stranded at airports across the country, including Atlanta’s Airport, which has a direct flight to and form Evansville. As the weather warmed up today, people were able to get to their destinations without a problem. Travelers at Evansville Regional Airport say they did not have any issues.
“For the first time ever, our flight was on time. All the flights were on time,” says Carlos Garcia.
Garcia and his family flew in from Atlanta after visiting family in Puerto Rico.
“The only problem over there is that it was 85 degrees. Now when we get home, we will be shoveling snow,” he says.
Steve Gibson and his wife also flew in from Atlanta, to see family in Kentucky. He says they did not run into any delays.
“We literally got in right on time, and everything flew out. The other difference is that there is snow on the ground here, and there is no snow in Atlanta, just cold weather,” he says.
That is a much different picture of Atlanta’s struggles from just a week ago. With cold temperatures expected to linger into the morning, INDOT urges drivers to keep extra coats in the car and give themselves extra travel time.
