With an ice storm expected this weekend officials are gearing up to battle slick pavements and possible power outages.
The National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning for northwest Missouri. Warning is in effect from 9 a.m. Friday to midnight Sunday.
The Missouri Department of Transportation began pre-treating roads in the Northwest District Wednesday morning.
“Since it’s going to be freezing rain coming in first we decided to start to go out and start pre-treating our roads. Get some sort of salt solution on them before the event actually starts happening,” said Marty Liles, MoDOT Northwest District Maintenance & Traffic Engineer. “We actually spray that on the road and the water evaporates off of that and what’s left behind is a salt residue. That buys us some time so whenever that ice actually starts happening it allows us to get to those roads and start getting some salt down. It actually starts the melting process.”
Liles said all state roadways in the Northwest District should have been pre-treated before the storm hits.
“In our portion of the state we’re looking at anywhere from a quarter to three tenths of ice but as your get further into the middle part of the state, Kansas City and through that I-70 corridor there’s a half to three quarters of ice predicted,” Liles said. “People ought to heed the warnings.”
Keven Schneider, Interim Superintendent of Streets for the City of St. Joseph said crews began getting chains ready for the trucks Thursday.
“Making sure we have a good supply of the older style tire chains that we used to use. Because on ice they’re about the best thing that you can have,” Schneider said. “In those big heavy trucks they don’t stop on a dime in the best conditions. Those streets that we’re recommending people stay off of are the very streets that we have to be out on. So the slickness is a big, big worry that we have.”
Schneider said they are still watching the forecast to determine how to battle the incoming storm.
Bill Brinton, Buchanan County’s Emergency Manager is asking people to plan ahead and prepare to stay inside this weekend.
“People need to be cognoscente. They have responsibility also about the weather and trying to keep themselves safe so that our emergency responders don’t have to come out and save them in the event that they get themselves stuck in some really bad weather,” Brinton said.
He said Kansas City Power and Light has trimmed many trees around powerlines in St. Joseph city limits. However, Brinton said people still need to prepare in case power goes out.
“There’s not going to be a lot of wind which is a good thing,” Brinton said. “But there’s always the possibility of power failures so people need to keep some blankets around and make sure they can stay warm for a few hours.”
Brinton said in the county, crews will not be out with trucks on roads until daylight hours.
“Our guys don’t go out after dark. As most people know our roads, a lot of them are gravel,” Brinton said. “We don’t have street lights and we don’t have curbs. So our guys will not go out until Sunday morning. Lots of times on gravel roads there’s really nothing you can do. The temperatures are supposed to be in mid 40s by Monday so it will all dissipate pretty quickly.”
MoDOT has issued a winter weather advisory for reduced travel in Missouri. People are urged to avoid travel starting Thursday night through Sunday.