Snow, ice cause crashes, power outages across northern counties

SIDNEY — The northern part of the Miami Valley started seeing snow and ice earlier this afternoon.

Ice covered power lines, with 5,000 Dayton Power & Light customers without service at one point in Shelby County. A weather-related phenomenon called conductor galloping was witnessed in the county, when freezing rain creates icicles on transmission lines. Strong winds then lift the lines, causing the motion.

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“Our light’s been flickering off and on and it’s been like every five minutes, been flickering off and on but it hasn’t went out,” said Allen Stockton of Sidney.

In downtown Sidney, some people were trying to stay ahead of the storm by clearing sidewalks as snow continued to fall.

Others just wandered out to see how much snow had already stuck to the ground.

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“I’m trying to stay inside, stay warm and everything,” Stockton said. “Usually I play bingo but I don’t think they’re going to have bingo today, so I’m just going to stay in.”

On northbound Interstate 75 by the Sidney exit, a semi truck crashed. It was going 65 mph, which was too fast for the current conditions, said Trooper Jordan Monnin of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

“We’ve been keeping pretty busy over the past few hours, numerous accidents across the interstate, a lot of slide-offs,” Monnin said.

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Troopers are telling motorists to be cautious and to give extra space for first responders to do their jobs.

“Overall, we’d like to see a slower speed, even not around us today, especially as you’re coming up on the lights, whether it be a fire truck or a tow truck or police. We want to see a reduced speed. Give us a little room and safety to work out here.”

Many people seem to take heed of the snow road emergency notices and have opted to stay home.

There is not a lot of traffic on streets and the interstates, making it easier for road crews to help treat the roads during the storm.