Devastating snowstorm one of worst ever
The devastating snowstorm that enveloped southwestern Pennsylvania over the Thanksgiving holiday in 1950 was broad, long-lasting, intense in volume and crippling in its impact.
It impacted not only the entire state of Pennsylvania, but spread from Ohio to the East Coast, stretching from South Carolina to Maine.
The storm started on the Friday morning after Thanksgiving and continued for six days. Total snowfall reached depths of up to 38 inches with drifts up to 25 feet in rural areas. Temperatures stayed below freezing, reaching zero degrees at times.
Motorists were stranded on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for days, from the Ohio state line eastward to the Breezewood interchange. Reportedly, all hotel accommodations near the turnpike interchanges of Somerset, Donegal and New Stanton were fully occupied. Churches and fire halls began to look like giant refugee camps where firemen, Red Cross representatives and civic volunteer groups set up temporary housing, including beds and hot food, for the stranded travelers.
Throughout western Pennsylvania, industries, schools, shopping and public transportation were shut down for days. Citizens were snowbound without access to food or medical care. There were 283 reported deaths in the 22 states affected by the storm. At least 15 deaths were attributed to the storm in Pennsylvania, mostly from heart attacks as a result of over exertion.
The storm was identified as one of the worst in Fayette County history. On Tuesday, four days after the start of the storm, Uniontown was still digging out. The Evening Standard reported that “citizens, young and old, demonstrated civic pride and responsibility by uniting in a common objective of clearing the streets.” Thousands joined forces to form “Operation Snow-Shovel.”
More than 9,000 workers from the Pennsylvania State Highway Department, the National Guard, the Health Department and the State Police worked continuously to clear highways and assist isolated residents. The state used approximately 500 trucks in its efforts in western Pennsylvania where snow drifted up to 25 feet.
About 50 men from Phillips worked all day Saturday and Sunday to clear the streets of Phillips so 130 families could reach stores for whatever food was available. They cleared two-foot deep snow that drifted to eight feet in places.
About 125 Smock residents shoveled for 14 hours on Sunday to clear the highway from Smock to Route 51 to enable food trucks to access the village. The Uniontown Lion’s Club arranged for nine members of the Smock Volunteer Fire Department to go to the house of a couple in their mid-70s stranded in their home along a dirt road about one mile off Route 51. The firemen shoveled through drifts up to nine-feet deep.
Despite all of these heroic efforts, there were tragic events. The bodies of two young men were found on Monday morning in their snowbound car on an isolated country road about 12 miles south of Uniontown. The coroner concluded that the cousins died of carbon monoxide poisoning when their car became snowbound and they continued running the engine to keep warm. Another fatality was a coal miner who became stranded in deep snow about one-half mile from home while attempting to walk home after work from a nearby mine. He died of exposure.
In addition to all of these devastating conditions and events, there were some humorous human-interest incidents. Faced with no public transportation and snow-blocked roads, one mother-to-be was able to hitch a ride to a hospital in a highway department snow plow. Her baby was delivered 35 minutes after arrival at the hospital. A second mother-to-be was able to obtain a ride in a caboose of a working train, travel to a distant town where an ambulance met her at the station and took her to the hospital. Her baby was delivered 3 1/2 hours after her arrival at the hospital.
By Wednesday, six days after the storm started, the Pennsylvania Turnpike was cleared and stranded travelers started going home. By Thursday, the coal mines and the radiator plant were back up and running. And despite continuing windy conditions and snow squalls, business establishments were preparing to resume the Yule shopping season. Schools were to remain closed until Monday.