While sub-zero temperatures and wind chills near the minus-30 mark hit the area on Dec. 22 and overall Jefferson County weathered the storm without too many serious problems, authorities reported.
One of the hardest-hit areas in the county was Hillsboro, where a power occurred at about 8:30 p.m. that night, leaving about 2,100 customers without service during the dangerous cold, Hillsboro Fire Chief Brian Gaudet.
“We proceeded to contact Hillsboro R-3 (School District) Superintendent Dr. Jon Isaacson and opened a warming center at Hillsboro Intermediate School,” Gaudet said. “Obviously, a big thanks to their staff that helped get the warming center up and running.
“We had four or five people show up at various times. (Hillsboro Fire) evacuated a couple of people from their homes who were elderly or had medical issues to the warming center.”
Gaudet said he is not sure exactly when power was restored to the area, but the warming center was closed at about 1 a.m. Dec. 23.
“Our House 1 at 120 Fifth St. in Hillsboro is a warming center and is open to anyone who needs it,” he said Dec. 23.
Gaudet said at about 2 a.m. Dec. 23 his department responded to a vehicle fire connected to the weather.
“A MoDOT dump truck-salt spreader caught on fire on Hwy. 21 just south of Hy. B (in Hillsboro),” he said. “There were no injuries. The fire was quickly brought under control. The truck was heavily damaged.”
Gaudet said he believes friction to the truck’s rear brakes caused the fire.
The cold conditions made it difficult to battle the fire, he said.
“Obviously, the cold weather led to ice and slippery footing, but we did not have any injuries,” he said.
Warren Robinson, the county’s director of emergency management, said he knew of no widespread problems caused by the low temperatures and high winds.
“We know of a power outage in Hillsboro, as well as some outages in Imperial and High Ridge.
“I didn’t see any big problems on the highways,” he said.
Missouri State Highway Patrol
The Highway Patrol responded to 332 calls for service, checked on 124 stranded motorists and worked 66 accidents in the St. Louis area on Dec. 22, with most of those calls coming in after 10 a.m., patrol spokesman Cpl. Dallas Thompson said.
Seven of the accidents had injuries, but there were no fatal accidents, he said.
“We were fairly fortunate really. We didn’t get as much accumulating snow as was originally forecasted. I think a lot of folks listened to us, and they stayed home and didn’t get out and travel. The numbers seem high, but the number of crashes, 66 in 11 counties, is not that horrible for a major snow event.”
Thompson said even though the snow appeared to have moved out of the area on Dec. 23, everyone should continue to use caution while driving.
“There are still going to be some slick spots on area roadways,” he said. “If you have been involved in a minor crash or slid off the roadway with the wind chill the way it is, you should stay inside your vehicle. Call for help and let help come to you. Stay inside your car, where you can stay warm. With wind chills of this magnitude within 30 minutes, hypothermia can set in on you.”
Arnold
Arnold Public Works Director Judy Wagner said no serious weather-related problems were reported in the city.
“It came in later than what was originally forecasted,” she said. “We had rain and sleet around 11 a.m., and by noon, we were seeing snowflakes. It was so cold and dry, it really just kept blowing around. It wasn’t a slick snow like we have seen in the past, so that definitely helped.”
Wagner said the city did a good job clearing the roads of snow, considering the conditions.
“I think we did the best we could,” she said. “By 5 p.m. (Dec. 22), we had treated and plowed everything. Given that the winds were so strong, it just kept blowing (the salt) around. By 6 p.m., we called it a day because we had to let nature take its course and let the traffic heat up the salt by generating the friction and heat needed to melt the snow. We came (the morning of Dec. 23) and finished plowing the subdivision roads, getting what we could plowed off and treating the streets one more time.”
Det. Lt. Jeremy Christopher said Arnold Police responded on Dec. 22 to six calls for vehicle accidents and five motorist assist calls.
Spokeswoman Stephanie Jackson said the Rock Community Fire Protection District, which covers areas in the north part of the county, was not called to any major incidents related to the snow and frigid conditions on Dec. 22.
Byrnes Mill
Few weather-related calls came to the Byrnes Mill Police, Chief Frank T. Selvaggio said.
“The good thing is that most people stayed home,” he said. “We had (two) calls for frozen water pipes and we assisted North Jefferson County Ambulance District find a homeless person a place to stay for two nights.
“Our Public Works Department did a great job keeping our city-maintained streets as clear as they could, but the blowing snow impacted their efforts.”
He said Spring Hills Presbyterian Church in Byrnes Mill was on standby to be used as a warming center but was not needed.
The North Jefferson County Ambulance District did, however, set up a warming center at the station at Rock Creek Road and Hwy. 30.
-- Tony Krausz and Katelyn Mary Skaggs contributed information for this story.