[Live blog] KUB: Snow impact minimal
By The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Check out the High On LeConte blog for new posts and photos from the snow storm.
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Four
Ok, maybe that's a stretch, but it was a big snowman.
Ryan Indelicheo,
Lay said it Brumbaugh' and Ragatti's idea to build a snowman.
"We just rolled a huge ball of snow and we were like, 'Let's build a huge snowman,'" he said.
Brumbaugh said she didn't expect to to build a snowman as big as they did.
"I just looked over and they had this giant block of ice," she said.
Lay said he had another reason for enjoying the day.
"We don't have school," he said.
Motorists involved in property damage crashes will still need to exchange information with the other driver, then contact their insurance company once they reach a safe location.
Officers will still respond to injury crashes or crashes that block a major roadway. Officers will also continue to utilize winter weather vehicles to respond to calls for service.
Snow accumulations did not slow down demolition progress at the McClung site on
"As far as we are aware, the winter weather will not affect the timeline for demolition/debris removal," said
Shell said
Full demolition is expected to be completed within "three to four days," Kirill Vladimirovich, head of business with
The Knoxville Area Transit will upgrade to regular service at
The bus service had been on snow routes earlier in the day.
Officials will monitor weather this evening to determine if they must change routes again.
Two units of the
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Guard units through
The Tennessee Army Guard acted as part of the
The crews are primarily plowing snow and spreading salt on a limited basis.
Around 500 tons of salt were used overnight.
In the wake of Wednesday night's snow storm, the
They are accrediting the low outages to improvements on their Vegetation Management Program implemented in recent years. The improvements were based off of recommendations from a 16-member
The program prunes trees across the 688-square-mile service area on a 3- to 4-year cycle. KUB believes this program significantly impacts the system in a positive way during storms like this that weigh down trees and branches.
Crews are being released today to support restoration efforts in areas with severe outages. Should conditions change, crews remain at the ready.
"The fact that there is snow is exciting," Hinson said. "To get here was kind of crazy because it kept changing. First it was it's coming Monday. Now it's coming on Tuesday. It finally came on Wednesday."
Hinson and Okowita said they were watching the Olympics in Sochi on Wednesday night as the snow began to fall.
"It kind of helped put us in the mood for the Olympics," Hinson said with a chuckle.
When they woke up today with snow on the ground, Hinson said the goals for the day became making snow cream and a snowman. And they were glad that they weren't going to have to brave the roads.
"It's much easier to fall as a person than get in crash as a car," Hinson said. "So it makes it fun."
Hinson and Okowita aren't the only folks playing in the snow today.
"Other than a few weeks ago, this is his first big time snow,"
Representatives of emergency agencies across
Ickes said about 4-6 of the 4-wheel drive vehicles continued to operate in hard-to-reach areas after noon, but the operation was winding down.
Law enforcement agencies in
A dispatcher with the
Dispatchers with the
Region 1 roadways have improved after being battered overnight by snow.
Currently all roads are closed in the park except for the following:
For more information about current road conditions, please visit the park's website at www.nps.gov/grsm, call the park's Road and Weather Information Line at 865-436-1200, or follow road updates on Twitter @smokiesroadsnps.
After driving backroads in
"It's just bad," he said. "Some roads are in bad shape, so I decided to call it now early because it's not going to clear up."
Edmonds said reports are that because the snow that fell was wet, it is expected to turn into black ice when the temperature falls overnight, also led him to cancel classes for another day.
The school system has used all of its snow days that are built into the calendar and with classes out both today and tomorrow, he said, they will have at least two school days that will need to be made up. Students are scheduled to be out of class on Monday for
At this time, the only other district that has cancelled classes for tomorrow already is
Knoxville Center and
Mall officials are continuing to monitor weather conditions.
(Can't see the above photo gallery? Try this link.)
It has been operating on severe conditions snow routes due to the overnight accumulation.
Among the institutions closed today are
The
The theater says ticket-holders of either of the canceled shows may exchange their tickets for a future performance. Those patrons should call the box office at 865-974-5161. The box office won't be open until
In addition, the theater has added three performances of "The Whipping Man." The play had been scheduled to close
As of
KUB had 666 customers in
In
In
The
Other essential services also are operating for the more than 7,000 students living on campus.
The dining services at Presidential Court and Volunteer Hall are still open.
T Link and Access van service is still running. Weather and road conditions could affect some service areas and drop-off points. The Hill, the Fort and the Neyland Express routes will not run today.
Blount County Highway Superintendent
Because snow showers were passing through as his crews were plowing, often snow would start to accumulate on top of the cleared roads.
The showers, however, are getting less frequent, he said.
"You can see the asphalt and the temperature is coming up and where we're plowing is causing it to melt faster," Dunlap said.
Officials with various emergency agencies across
"It got quiet after
But at
"We were really hoping people would stay home, but we had a significant number of crashes," Ickes said.
Emergency officials will get a briefing at
Most of the emergency officials who started Wednesday at
Crisp said The snow storm came in at a good time and most folks heeded the advise and got home.
"Public Works personnel have done a good job of clearing the snow," he said. "The major arteries are passable but treacherous and folks should use due care."
More details as they develop online and in Friday's
Classes may be canceled at the
The dining services at Presidential Court and Volunteer Hall are still open.
T Link and Access van service is still running. Weather and road conditions could affect some service areas and drop-off points. The Hill, the Fort and the Neyland Express routes will not run today.
The libraries are currently closed, but students and staff should continue to monitor the webpage for updates. UT is also posting updates and campus conditions on its Facebook page.
The university first announced shortly after
The
A dozen workers Thursday morning were tossing snow from downtown sidewalks and
Vreeland said city workers fired up 21 trucks and even a few pickup trucks early Thursday morning to spread salt and plow.
One concentrated outage where power is out for several hundred is located in a residential section on
A similar outage is being reported not far from the
The dispatcher noted fall injuries start to pile up when people try to pull their garbage cans back to the house, get mail or try to shovel off walks and driveways. The calls are spread all over the city and county, the dispatcher said.
"If you don't have to, don't," the dispatcher said of getting outside.
Due to inclement weather, the art exhibit "#Diversity" at
The total does not include numerous calls of vehicles that had gone off the roadway or had been left abandoned, according to KPD spokesman
Secondary roads remain snow covered, and motorists who must travel should use caution.
Traffic volume is light.
KPD remains at Level II of its Severe Weather Plan, which means snow is throughout city with bad conditions on all roads, including main roads, streets and interstates, but traffic is moving. Responses include all emergency calls or any involving violence and crashes with injury, especially crashes blocking traffic.
Motorists involved in other property damage crashes should exchange information and contact their insurance companies.
City workers since
Vreeland said there have been no mishaps involving city vehicles spreading salt.
On Friday and Tuesday, in preparation for snow, city workers applied 62,200 gallons of brine, Vreeland said. City officials said between the pre-treatment and temperatures not dipping drastically, city streets are not as bad as the roads could have been.
ALERT: ACCIDENT I-40 EAST BOUND, 350 MILE MARKER. INTERSTATE CLOSED DUE TO TRACTOR TRAILER ACCIDENT. TRAFFIC BEING REROUTED.
DISTRICT 17:
Carter: Roads wet, slushy. Roan Mtn (SR 143) snow covered, crews treating roadways, temp 20s.
Johnson: Roads have patches of snow. Crews treating roadways. Use caution.
Sullivan: Snow-covered roads, snowing, crews treating roadways. Use caution.
DISTRICT 18:
Anderson: Snowing, roads snow covered. Motorists use caution. Crews treating. Temp 30.
DISTRICT 19:
-- TDOT
The
The university had earlier delayed classes until
See our complete list of school closings and delays here.
He did swallow a slice of cheese pizza and gulped a Diet Coke.
"I went out about 7:30 or
He traveled with crews all over the county, with conditions a bit worse in
"We have over 20 trucks out," he said. "With that many trucks out, there are always maintenance issues. We had to change a blade out on one."
The crews hit the primary roads first, he said, and continued then to secondary roads.
A lot of drivers didn't pay attention to conditions, he said, noting several four-wheel drives and other vehicles in ditches.
He said it was a good night for the crews with no accidents or injuries.
He praised the county's crews, noting the science and art of traversing roads while salting, sanding and plowing.
"There is a sort of science to driving the roads," he said. "They have a certain amount of salt or sand and know how to drive on the roads with the weight of the load.
"We also use GPS in all the trucks and know which side of the hill to be on when the load begins to empty.
"The art is watching the guys go down the road, flip the switch and get the salt or sand out of the back of the trucks at the right amount."
He said he couldn't remember the last time he saw the interstates as deserted, except maybe the opening day of the 1982 World's Fair when organizers asked local folks to stay home so the visitors could get into the exposition.
"It was sort of like the zombie apocalypse, except you don't have the cannibals," he said, before checking out and heading home about
Delivery of the
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Roads that haven't been plowed since the snowfall slowed or stopped pose serious problems for drivers.
Main roads are expected to be passable once they're plowed, according to
Drivers should continue to avoid traveling, especially on unplowed roads, Hubbs said.
Plowing, combined with the extensive pretreatment that roads received, seems to be effective, he said.
"In all seriousness, I tell people don't get out," he said Thursday morning. "It's not safe. We saw a lot of four-wheel drives in the ditches."
According to
Anyone with travel plans for today is advised to contact their airlines directly.
The
Here is an update for road conditions by district/county.
DISTRICT 17:
Carter: Roads wet, slushy. Roan Mtn (SR 143) snow covered, crews treating roadways, temp 20s.
Johnson: Roads have patches of snow. Crews treating roadways. Use caution.
Sullivan: Snow-covered roads, snowing, crews treating roadways. Use caution.
DISTRICT 18:
Anderson: Snowing, roads snow covered. Motorists use caution. Crews treating. Temp 30.
DISTRICT 19:
--TDOT
All will open at noon.
Currently all roads are closed in the park except for the following:
For more information about current road conditions, please visit the park's website at www.nps.gov/grsm, call the
Knoxville Area Transit will be operating on severe conditions snow routes Thursday morning, which means that most routes will not be operating.
Only routes on the main thoroughfares will run. These are:
-- Rt. 11
-- Rt. 12
-- Rt. 20 Central
-- Rt. 22
-- Rt. 31 Magnolia
-- Rt. 41
The
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