Winter Storm Bozeman Impacts: At Least 11 Dead From Weather-Related Traffic Accidents

November 17,2014



 
Winter Storm Bozeman dumped snow, ice and sleet on the Ohio Valley as the storm moved into the Northeast.
High traffic airports in the Northeast were the most affected Monday morning. A ground stop was issued for Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. until at least 9 a.m. local time. Delays at Newark, LaGuardia and Philadelphia airports lagged well in excess of 90 minutes.
Winter Storm Bozeman delivered a swath of snow and ice from Oregon to Kentucky, even leaving behind a trace of snow as far south as central Texas. Six people died over the weekend in Minnesota due to icy roads. In Lubbock, Texas, slick roads caused more than 50 traffic accidents, including three fatal accidents.
A similar scene played out on Thursday and Friday in the Northwest. On Thursday, a traffic accident killed one man in Crook County, Oregon, and on Friday a Utah woman died after she was ejected from her vehicle during a rollover.
(MORE: Winter Storm Bozeman Forecast)
Here are the latest impacts from Winter Storm Bozeman:

Ohio

Over 8,483 AEP customers were without power Monday due to heavy-snow related power outages, the Columbus Dispatch reports.
According to WBNS-10TV, a plane full of passengers was stuck on a Port Columbus tarmac for over 8 hours as crews plowed the runways and de-iced planes.
Numerous traffic accidents were reported across Ohio. Multiple counties issued level 1 "snow emergencies" for hazardous driving conditions. Slick roads led to slowdowns and lane closures. In one incident, a car lost control and crashed into a local news station van, which caused the van to lose control and crash into another vehicle and then flip. At least one person was injured in the crash, Cleveland.com reports.

Kentucky

School closures and delays were issued in Kentucky, too. In the Louisville, Kentucky, metro area, Jefferson County public and Catholic schools decided to close Monday morning due to wintry conditions, the Courier-Journal reports.
Dozens of drivers were involved in accidents across in Scott County, Kentucky, Monday due to snow-related impacts, WKYT reports. In one incident, an ambulance spun out, flipped and rolled off of I-75 and onto the shoulder of the road.
One driver lost control of his car and ended up facing oncoming traffic.
"I was absolutely terrified. I've never been in an accident like this. It's true, your life flashes before your eyes," driver Bryan Eifler told WKYT.

Indiana

Slick conditions on roads in the Indianapolis area led to serious delays on a major interstate. All lanes of I-74 eastbound were closed for a few hours after a crash Monday morning, FOX 59 reports. There are reports of numerous accidents and slide offs across the Indianapolis metro area Monday.
Early Monday morning a car lost control and slammed into the back of a home on the east side of Indianapolis, FOX 59 reports. No one was injured in the incident. In another incident, a semi truck carrying wood flipped on I-465 overnight, scattering wood about the road near the 56th Street exit, WTHR reports.
Schools delayed the start of classes Monday morning due to slick roads.

Minnesota

Six people died in weather-related traffic accidents across the state over the weekend, KARE reports.
"In just about every case it started with a vehicle losing control on those icy roads," Minnesota Highway Patrol Lt. Eric Roeske told KARE. "At the wrong time and wrong place, something seemingly routine can be deadly."
Megan Hinchliff, 24, died when she collided with another vehicle and spun off the road into a construction crane on I-94 near Rodgers, Minnesota.
Angelica Salas, 29 and her six-year-old son died when their vehicle spun out and was hit by a truck in Carver County, Minnesota.
Patrick Thomes, 47, died when his vehicle slide off of I-94 in Stearns County, Minnesota, and flipped over.  A similar scene played out on U.S. Highway 71 near Willmar, Minnesota, where 47-year-old Terry Wiederich's car slid and flipped off the side of the road, killing him.
Misty Petschl, 34, died at a Hennepin County, Minnesota, hospital after a traffic accident on Saturday on County Road 10 in the area.

Missouri

The Missouri Highway Patrol reports that two people are dead, and another seriously injured, after a crash on an icy bridge near Cabool, Missouri, Sunday evening.. Alex Greuter, 15, and Patricia Wiest, 37, both died when a vehicle lost control on an icy bridge and slid into the path of an oncoming U-Haul truck, which slammed into the passenger side of the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle is still being treated for serious injuries, but the U-Haul driver was uninjured in the crash.

Oklahoma 

Numerous traffic accidents were reported across the state Sunday, particularly in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas, KOCO reports.
Several school districts closed and/or delayed classes on Monday, KFOR-TV reports.
The Emergency Medical Services Authority reported paramedics responded to 28 accidents in the Tulsa area, according to Tulsa World. A 48-year-old man was treated by paramedics and taken to a Tulsa Hospital for cold exposure.

Texas

Dozens of traffic accidents were reported across the state dude to wintry conditions Sunday.
In Lubbock, police worked more than 155 crashes, including three fatal accidents, KCBD-TV reported. One of the fatalities was a milk truck driver killed northwest of Hale Center, and two more victims were killed in a wreck near Slaton early Sunday morning.

New Mexico  

Multiple vehicles slid off the road, prompting New Mexico State Police to close U.S. 70 from mile marker 244-258, KRQE-TV reported.
KRQE noted the Santa Fe Office of Emergency Management said icy conditions led to several minor accidents in the Santa Fe area on Sunday.

Utah

A fatal crash was reported involving a truck, Fox13 reported. The driver, Tracy Hoskins, 49, was pronounced dead after she lost control of her vehicle. The truck rolled several times, and Hoskins was ejected.

Oregon

Numerous weather related traffic accidents were reported across the state, including one that killed a driver in Crook County. Police said that Robert L. Atkins, 91, was killed when his vehicle slid off the road and down a steep embankment, colliding with a tree on the side of the road.
Search and rescue teams finally found the body of missing climber Benjamin Newkirk, who disappeared when he fell while descending Middle Sister peak. Conditions from Bozeman prevented rescue teams from carrying out a search in the steep terrain until Saturday, Oregon Live reports.

Idaho

Hundreds of accidents were reported across the state on Thursday and Friday. Ada County reported more than 237 weather-related traffic incidents Thursday, KTVB reports. Of those incidents, 171 were crashes and 28 were slide-offs. Eleven people were injured in the crashes.
KMVT reports that there were at least 28 accidents and slide-offs in the Twin Falls, Idaho, area Friday. Traffic issues were even worse in Ada County, Idaho, where there were at least 171 crashes, KTVB reports.