Road crews have been working round the clock after a rare November blizzard struck northeast Kansas Sunday.
Heavy snow and strong winds forced a number of road closures around the state including portions of Interstate 70 west of Topeka and areas northeast of Manhattan. A number of roads around Manhattan remain completely snow covered and that’s led to a number of schools in the region calling off classes Monday following the long holiday weekend.
Gov. Jeff Colyer issued a State of Disaster Emergency declaration for the state earlier Sunday which authorizes the use of state resources and personnel to assist with response and recovery operations in affected counties. The Kansas Division of Emergency Management has activated the State Emergency Operations center in Topeka to a partial level. A number of reports of vehicles getting stuck in the snow came in Sunday and Westar Energy also had reported multiple power outages in northeast and western Kansas.
Manhattan city street crews were sent out at 6 a.m. Sunday and spent the afternoon clearing all primary routes before moving on to residential plowing. Still though with temperatures not warming up above freezing, many slick spots will remain Monday morning. Motorists are reminded to allow extra time and drive slowly if you must venture out Monday.
In Pottawatomie County, crews continued operations through late Sunday evening. Public Works Director Peter Clark tells KMAN that crews were fighting the snow drifts on both paved and gravel roads and advised that some of those would likely remain difficult into Monday with refreezing going on with wind and cold temperatures. Clark says major paved roads are plowed and treated. General conditions remain moderate to poor. Crews will again be out early Monday and Clark says a couple paved roads like Westmoreland Road and many gravel roads have deep drifts that are filling back in with the winds. Salt mix being used won’t be effective until sunlight comes in Monday morning.
Snow also caused delays at the Manhattan Airport where a number of flights were actually cancelled. By late Sunday night the runway was cleared.
Conditions are expected to improve through the work week with much calmer winds but temperatures won’t get much above freezing until Wednesday or Thursday.
