close

‘Bear with us’: Winter storm prompts municipal leaders to ask for patience

By Mark Hofmann And Katherine Mansfield newsroom@heraldstandard.Com 4 min read
1 / 3

Ed Riedmann

A pedestrian crosses Morgantown Street in downtown Uniontown early Monday morning. Fayette and surrounding counties were hit by a snowstorm Sunday into Monday, dropping several inches across the region.

2 / 3

Ed Riedmann/

A snow plow works to clear the Morgantown Street in Uniontown on Monday.

3 / 3

Courtesy of Gabriel Harr

Waynesburg University in Greene County canceled in-person classes late Sunday due to the impending snow.

Winter storm Izzy moved into southwestern Pennsylvania early Sunday evening, dropping six inches of snow on Fayette and Washington counties, while Greene County woke to a light dusting Monday morning.

“Further south got a little bit less because there, sleet mixed in,” said Shannon Hefferan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.

Snowfall totals for Greene County were not available late Monday afternoon, but Hefferan said the snow there was not as significant as in Fayette County, which averaged between 5 and 6 inches, with Ohiopyle reporting 8 inches Monday morning.

“This still is impactful, hazardous weather,” Hefferan said.

It was weather that road crews had difficulty staying ahead of – and left municipal leaders asking residents for patience throughout the day.

In Uniontown, Mayor Bill Gerke urged people to stay home while crews worked to keep up with the snow.

“Fortunately, today’s a holiday and there’s not a lot of traffic,” he said Monday afternoon.

City crews started at 3 p.m. Sunday and worked throughout Monday. On-and-off snowfall is anticipated through Tuesday morning.

“As long as the snow keeps falling, our staff will be out and giving more than 100% like they always do,” Gerke said.

The snow didn’t stop the annual East End United Community Center Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church. Gerke said he was there to help clear the parking lot for the 40 who attended.

“It was very encouraging,” Gerke said. “I was impressed with that.”

Connellsville Mayor Greg Lincoln, like Gerke, asked motorists to stay home if possible.

“Road conditions are bad,” Lincoln said in Monday morning Facebook post. “Our public works [department] have been out battling this snow since 2 p.m. yesterday. They will continue to plow and treat them throughout today.”

He asked residents to be mindful of the windchill, check on their neighbors, and said the city’s warming center would open if a need arises.

South Union Township Supervisor Robert Schiffbauer said other than the occasional phone call from someone wanting their road treated, he heard of no calls concerning vehicle accidents due to the weather.

“We’ve been handling it the way we normally do,” he said, adding the township still has plenty of salt and anti-skid material on hand. “It’s just going to take a while. There’s a lot of snow out there.”

Schiffbauer asked that residents be patient through the process, try to avoid parking vehicles narrow streets so plows can come through, and to avoid shoveling snow from their sidewalks or driveways onto the road.

“It makes for an ever more unsafe situation,” he said.

In Perry Township, Supervisor AJ Boni said the snowfall didn’t cause any major problems. Still, he said, clearing the snow out would be a process throughout the day.

“This is an ongoing storm — it’s not a quick hit,” Boni said. “Bear with us and give us time to get our job done.”

Melissa Maczko, acting safety press officer for PennDOT District 12, said crews were working 12-hour shifts to treat roadways. Main roads are tended to first, followed by secondary roadways.

“Our crews have been out since (Sunday) at noon and will continue to be out until the roads are clear,” she said, adding that snow drifts and increasing winds were having an effect on the crews Monday. “We are out in full force. We are working as hard as we can to get all of the roads and keep them remaining passable.”

The District 12 covers Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

The storm’s severity forced PennDOT to temporarily limit commercial vehicles to the right-lane and reduce speed limits on several roadways in the region, including Interstate 70 in Washington and Interstate 79 in Washington and Greene counties.

Restrictions were lifted at about 12:30 p.m. Monday.

Most Fayette, Washington and Greene County school districts were not scheduled to hold classes on Monday due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, but districts that initially planned to have school, including Canon-McMillan and Washington school districts, used flexible instruction days and McGuffey switched to remote learning.

Two area universities – Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus in Lemont Furnace and Waynesburg University in Greene County – canceled in-person classes on Monday.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today