An Update on Blizzard Conditions

Here is an update on what happened yesterday near Fargo, ND, courtesy of the Fargo InForum online newspaper, found at:  http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/303453/

Published December 31 2010

Authorities continue to rescue stranded motorists overnight, still checking roads this morning

FARGO – After a night of dramatic rescues in a blinding blizzard, authorities in Cass and Clay counties took to the highways this morning to continue to check stranded cars for motorists. Visibility had improved, but temperatures dropped below zero as round two of the storm approached.
By: Mike Nowatzki, INFORUM 

 

     FARGO – After a night of dramatic rescues in a blinding blizzard, authorities in Cass and Clay counties took to the highways this morning to continue to check stranded cars for motorists. Visibility had improved, but temperatures dropped below zero as round two of the storm approached.

     Interstate 94 remained closed this morning from Fargo to Jamestown, N.D., and from Moorhead to Alexandria, Minn. Interstate 29 was still closed from Grand Forks, N.D., to the South Dakota border.
Highway 10 between Moorhead and Detroit Lakes, Minn., also is closed until further notice.
     Cass County Chief Deputy Jim Thoreson said three motorists were rescued overnight from County     Road 10 west of West Fargo, which became the alternate route after I-94 closed following a pileup Thursday involving at least 25 vehicles.
     The last person to be rescued from County Road 10 was a semi driver who told authorities at midnight he wanted to stay with his truck but then called about 4 a.m. for authorities to come get him, Thoreson said.
     Deputies and state troopers following snowplows in four-wheel-drive vehicles were out this morning looking for stranded motorists.
     They rescued four people from two vehicles on I-29 near Argusville shortly after 5 a.m., Thoreson said.
     A family of four and a person in a separate vehicle were picked up on I-29 south of Fargo near the Kindred exit, he said, noting it took rescuers three hours to make the roughly 30-mile round trip.
     As of 7:30 a.m., the tactical operations center set up in Fargo for the storm wasn’t aware of any motorists still stranded, Thoreson said.
     “That’s our biggest worry is we haven’t heard from somebody who’s stranded,” he said.
     Thoreson said “dozens and dozens” of vehicles that have crashed or gotten stuck are being left on or along the roadways.
     “I don’t know that any of the major roadways will open today,” he said. “And once they do decide, it’s going to take a long time to clean these cars out before they can open up these roads again.”
     Since the blizzard hit, authorities in Cass County – with help Thursday night from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office on snowmobiles – have escorted about 30 people back to safety, Thoreson said.
     Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist also dispatched his deputies early today to start checking for stranded motorists as visibility improved and plows started to open up roads.
     Deputies weren’t called to rescue any stranded motorists overnight, but emergency personnel needed a snowplow to clear a path to a medical assist in Sabin, he said.
     Bergquist asked people to stay home until crews can clear the roads.
     With a second blizzard expected to start moving into the Fargo-Moorhead area mid-afternoon, Bergquist said he’s “a little nervous with it being New Year’s Eve.” Authorities are asking revelers to use common sense and forgo partying if it means having to travel, he said.
     “They’ll just have to celebrate another night,” he said.
     A blizzard warning is in effect from 6 p.m. today to noon Saturday. The National Weather Service says new snow accumulations of 6 to 9 inches can be expected, with the heaviest snowfall likely near a line from Fargo to Bemidji, Minn.
     So far, no life-threatening injuries or deaths related to the blizzard have been reported in Cass or Clay counties, officials said.