By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
A series of winter storms and snowfalls this week have kept Missouri State Highway Patrol's Troop H busy across the northwest part of the state.
Between Sunday night and midnight Tuesday morning, the Troop responded to 108 calls for service, including 53 stranded motorist responses and 25 non-injury traffic crashes.
Troop H's Public Information Officer Jake Angle says the area close to the Iowa border was particularly busy due to the heavier snowfall amounts.
"They had close to a foot of snow up by the Iowa line, so they were dealing with some tough conditions up there," Angle said. "That's where a lot of the calls came from, but they were scattered all over the Troop."
Snow, combined with periods of freezing rain, made travel hazardous for much of Monday and into Tuesday morning. The area then woke up to a couple inches of fresh snow Wednesday morning, causing most area schools to call off class three days in a row.
Angle says troopers are trained to deal with adverse weather conditions, but having three straight days of it can be tiring.
"We've had a lot of cars that slid off the road and become stuck," Angle said. "We've had our share of traffic crashes. Just some real tough situations out there, but we've been keeping traffic moving, getting those cars pulled out and doing what we do each and every day. Dealing with inclement weather adds that extra challenge."
The best news from the week - the troop had only one injury accident and no fatal crashes.
"Nobody wants to slide off the road and be involved in a crash," Angle said, "but to only have one injury and no fatalities, you really can't ask for much more."
Better weather is on the way for motorists, with temperatures warming into the upper 30s and low 40s this weekend and into early next week.
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