Icy roads cause rash of traffic accidents

The icy conditions that swept across north Alabama on Wednesday caused trouble for many motorists in the county.

Weather forecasters predicted the winter weather would hit the area around noon, but as it turned out, the weather was the worst about 8 a.m. – a time that most people were headed to work or school.

Franklin County EMA Director Roy Gober said that the weather took the county by surprise since it wasn’t forecasted until later in the day.

“The National Weather Service was adamant that the weather would get here later than it did,” Gober said. “I know that it’s difficult to predict weather conditions sometimes, but our office goes by what the weather service is telling us.

“All we can do is make the best decisions on the information we have available at the time.”

Franklin County Sheriff Larry Plott said the icy conditions that occurred earlier in the morning were what gave motorists the most trouble.

“The defining period was between 7 and 8 a.m. when the mist started to turn into ice,” he said. “There were numerous wrecks and people who slid off the road. I quit counting at 30 wrecks that came through 911.

“We also had calls of people who had slipped and fallen on the ice and some of those needed an ambulance. We were thankful, though, that no one suffered life-threatening injuries.”

Plott said that adequate preparation and timely response were the keys to insuring that the wrecks and other weather-related situations didn’t get out of hand.

“The sheriff’s department made preparations the night before so that patrolmen could be ready to assist motorists who might be involved in an accident because of the icy conditions,” Plott said.

“We always prepare for the worst and then hope it doesn’t get that bad.”

Plott said that the worst spots in the county were along Alabama 243 and on secondary roads and bridges.

“We had a school bus to have problems near the Cummings Creek Bridge and our officers had to walk to get to them because they couldn’t reach them by car,” he said. “We also had traffic backed up on 243 because of accidents.

“These situations could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for all the departments working together to make sure the motorists were safe. Our area is not used to ice events, and this situation showed how important communication is. I just appreciate everyone who helped out.”

Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett said the city received approximately 25 wreck calls from people sliding off the road, hitting guard rails or hitting other cars.

“Everyone was basically caught off guard since the bad weather wasn’t supposed to start until around lunch,” Hargett said.

“We had everyone in the office out assisting our street officers with the wrecks and icy conditions.”

Hargett said the city had the most trouble on the north and south overpasses and other areas in town where the roads were less traveled and prone to “slick spots.”

He added that prevention measures and quick response by the state and city kept more accidents from occurring.

“We placed officers near the overpasses with their patrol car lights flashing so motorists would know to slow down,” he said. “The state department got there shortly and got sand down on the overpasses and the street department was instrumental in getting sand on the slick areas throughout the city.”

Hargett said the Russellville Fire Department assisted with the wrecks until police officers could respond to the scene.

On the west end of the county, Red Bay Police Chief Janna Jackson said their department had one wreck inside the city limits and one wreck outside the city limits that they responded to. No one was seriously injured in either of those accidents.

“Highway 19 and places on Highway 24 were the worst for us,” she said.

“But our street department made sure there was an abundance of sand and we had all officers patrolling the area to make sure any dangerous spots had been taken care of.”

In Phil Campbell, Police Chief Merrell Potter said that they had to close College Road because it became impassable and unsafe for motorists.

He also said that their department responded to several calls where weather-related accidents had occurred.

“We had several calls where cars had slid off the road and we had some calls where people had fallen on the ice. One man dislocated his shoulder when he slipped and fell.

“It was a dangerous time for everyone, and we encouraged our citizens to stay indoors unless it was absolutely necessary to get out. It’s better to be safe in these situations.”