Winter Storm Helena Kills 6; Cripples Travel in the South

Sean Breslin, Eric Chaney and Ada Carr
Published: January 8,2017
Highways were closed, tens of thousands lost power and at least five people have been killed by Winter Storm Helena, which moved into the Deep South Friday and promised to cause serious problems from the Southern states up into New England.
In Virginia, a man died in a Greene County crash that's being blamed on slick roads. According to the Associated Press, the unidentified man's SUV truck struck another vehicle before running off the road and overturning in a creek. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Officials confirmed the death of 20-year-old Malik Jordan Saturday morning in central Georgia, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was traveling north toward Atlanta when his vehicle hit a patch of ice, lost control and crashed on Interstate 75 just after 7 a.m. Saturday morning, the report added.
Deaths from the winter storm have also been confirmed in Oregon, Colorado and Kentucky.
(MORE: Check the Forecast for Winter Storm Helena)

New Jersey

Road conditions remained in relatively good shape across the Garden State Saturday, but authorities still suggested residents stay home, if possible. Along the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike, speed limits were reduced. The biggest accumulations were expected along the coast, so road conditions would likely be worst in those areas.

Delaware

Heavy snow fell Saturday on Delaware, but despite the dangers, officials said issues were minimal.
"It looks like people are listening," DelDOT spokesman Jim Westhoff told the News Journal. "The drivers tell me that the most difficult part of driving a plow is when they are passed by a car. If we have the roads to ourselves, we can get a lot more work done."
A few slide-offs were reported, and speed limits were reduced in some areas to counter the dangerous conditions brought on by the snowfall, the report added.

Virginia

With a rare blizzard warning issued for the Virginia coast, officials were being as careful as possible with Helena as the storm arrived overnight Saturday.

There was good reason for the caution: Virginia State Police say that slick roads contributed to more than 500 crashes, one of which lead to a fatality.
Saturday morning, Interstate 664 to I-64 in Hampton was closed due to heavy snow, the Virginian-Pilot also reported. At Norfolk International Airport, every arriving flight was canceled Saturday, as were most departing flights, according to the airport's website.
The U.S. Coast Guard closed the Port of Virginia at midnight Friday, as the storm could lead to zero visibility both onshore and on the water. Commercial vessels will be prohibited from both entering and leaving the Chesapeake Bay and officials have urged other boaters to remain docked.

North Carolina

Search crews are looking for a pair of hikers who have been missing in Haywood County since Thursday, according to the Citizen-Times. Officials said the hikers left their car near Big East Fork trail, and as temperatures plunge, they're concerned about the safety of the pair.
"We've had very, very, very brief episodic cell phone communication, most recently this morning," Dana Stewart, public information officer for the Haywood County Incident Management Team, told the Citizen-Times.
(INTERACTIVE: Winter Storm Helena Tracker)
Gov. Roy Cooper said during a Saturday morning press briefing that crews responded to 260 accidents and 462 calls for service on state roads since the storm began.
"If I tell you anything, it would be – stay home," Cooper said. "This weather event is not over. We’ve lost too many lives recently from people driving in dangerous conditions."
Power outages had grown to about 25,000 but had lessened to a little less than 2,400 by Saturday, according to a release from the governor.
At the state's major airports, crews worked hard to keep runways and planes operating as the snow and sleet fell. Most airlines had canceled flights through mid-Saturday morning at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, while more than 100 flights were canceled in the morning hours at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, according to FlightAware.
A Saturday evening college basketball game between the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University was postponed until 1 p.m. Sunday because of the winter storm.
Cooper declared a State of Emergency for all 100 counties in North Carolina ahead of the storm, which had already forced nearly all inauguration ceremonies for Gov. Roy Cooper and Council of State members to either be canceled or altered.

South Carolina

Snow and ice coated roads in the Upstate Saturday morning, and officials warned residents to just stay home and not risk travel. According to the state's Highway Patrol, roads in northern South Carolina were snow-covered and far too dangerous for inexperienced drivers.
The storm didn't bring snow or ice to the Lowcountry, but the cold temperatures were expected to be dangerous for that region of the state.
"In the early morning, stay in," NWS meteorologist Doug Berry told the Post and Courier. "For our area, we don't see that too often. Going outside is not advised for people who are not used to it."

Georgia

Travel was extremely difficult across North Georgia Saturday morning, and some 10,000 Georgia Power customers were without electricity to start the day. For much of Atlanta, it was not the snow causing problems; rather, it was a layer of ice from hours of freezing rain and sleet that fell instead.

Nearly 400 flights were canceled Friday at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and another 300 were canceled Saturday morning, according to FlightAware.
Cars were reportedly sliding off of roads in Fulton County Friday night and several crashes were reported due to ice, WSB-TV reported.
In one of the lighter moments of the snowstorm, Stone Mountain Park's Snow Mountain attraction will be closed Saturday, and the park's Twitter account even poked fun at the decision.

Alabama

Roads remained in extremely poor shape across parts of Alabama that were affected by Helena, and officials continued to urge residents to stay home. In Tuscaloosa County, Interstate 59 was impassable Saturday morning due to snow and ice, Alabama Law Enforcement said on Twitter.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency shut down the Tuscaloosa County Toll Bridge due to the weather conditions Friday, according to AL.com. Other roads saw closures and restrictions as they began to become slick and icy. State troopers responded to multiple weather-related crashes.
Curfews were put in place for several Alabama counties Friday night as conditions deteriorated, ensuring that residents would stay safe and not attempt to travel. One such curfew was in effect in Cleburne County from 5 p.m. Friday night until 11 a.m. Saturday morning. In Autauga and Elmore counties, an impassable travel advisory was issued from 6 p.m. until Saturday morning, prohibiting travel on all county and Wetumpka City streets. The same advisory was issued for Lowndes County later Friday night.

State troopers began reporting crashes due to ice accumulation on I-59 shortly after noon on Friday, WSFA-TV said. Many of the crashes occurred between the 16 MM-23 MM southbound in Greene and Sumter counties.
Gov. Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency Thursday afternoon. The declaration affected all counties in the state, and among the impacts of the state of emergency is the activation of 300 soldiers from the Alabama National Guard to assist mission support teams and command staff.

Mississippi

Roads in the Magnolia State were described as a "sheet of ice" Saturday morning as authorities continued to respond to wrecks and shut down interstates. In Jackson, the poor conditions forced organizers to cancel the annual Mississippi Blues Marathon, the AP reported.
Those interstate closures included portions of I-20 and I-55 Friday night, according to Mississippi News Now. Most bridges and overpasses were ice-covered in areas affected by the winter storm, and officials urged residents to stay off the roads.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol reported that by 3 p.m. Friday, it had investigated 62 wrecks statewide and responded to 141 calls for assistance, according to the Associated Press.

New York

Officials in New York City and Long Island warned residents that the heavy snow would arrive Saturday, complicating travel. On Long Island, where up to a foot of snow could fall, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone told the AP that crews were prepared for the storm.
In New York City, drivers were told to be extremely careful on roads where snow could pile up quickly as snowfall rates increased.
(MORE: Helena's Impacts on New York)

New England

New England began to feel the storm's impacts Saturday afternoon, especially in the region's southernmost states. Interstate 91 was shut down in both directions near Middletown, Connecticut, because of a pileup that involved at least 20 vehicles, according to the state police. No serious injuries were reported in the collision.
(MORE: Helena's Impacts on New England)

Tennessee

Schools in Nashville expected to hold classes as scheduled on Friday, but as travel conditions quickly worsened, resulting in hundreds of fender-benders and non-injury crashes, officials decided to dismiss students early, according to the Associated Press. Despite the dangers lurking on the city's slippery roads, all students made it home safely, the report added.
In Nashville, a Metro school bus slid off the road and hit a mailbox Friday morning just before noon, WKRN.com reported. According to the Nashville Fire Department, students were aboard the bus at the time, but none were injured and all were safely removed from the bus.

"Ice is here and roads are dangerous," Murfreesboro police officer Kyle Evans said in a tweet Friday morning. Evans said that by 9:30 a.m., there had been 53 crashes reported around the city.

Kentucky

A Montgomery County Sheriff's Deputy told WKYT.com slick roads may have played a role in a deadly crash on U.S. 60 just outside Mt. Sterling Thursday morning.
The car appeared to have slid off the road before striking a tree. A passenger in the vehicle, identified by the AP as 55-year-old Daniel Noble, died after being rushed to the University of Kentucky Hospital.
(MORE: Flooding, Outages Reported in Bay Area)

The West

Helena buried parts of the west before heading eastward, causing two deaths, treacherous road conditions, school closures, flight delays and cancellations around the region.
Authorities say one of two missing backcountry skiers who were found in the central Colorado mountains has died. The Lake County Office of Emergency Management said Brett Beasley was found near Turquoise Lake west of Leadville. Beasley was treated for hypothermia but did not survive.
Zaylee Schlect, 8, was killed Tuesday when a tree fell into her family's Otis, Oregon, home, according to the AP. The tree was brought down by strong winds that accompanied the winter storm; Schlect was rushed to a hospital but died shortly after, the report added.
Traffic accidents closed roads in Wyoming and Idaho, while avalanches cut off roads in California, Oregon and Nevada and buried cars in Nevada Thursday afternoon.
The Nevada avalanche, which closed State Route 431 near the summit of Mt. Rose, also caught two backcountry skiers. Search crews were able to locate and rescue all victims, due in part to the fact that victims were wearing beacons and proper avalanche equipment, the Truckee Meadows Fire Department said in a tweet.