Already with Level 2 crash reporting underway all week, Emporia Police officers are telling drivers locally to limit their travel until further notice.
Officers are asking residents to avoid all non-essential travel after this past weekend’s 5-plus inches were followed by around 2-3 inches Thursday night into Friday. Travel conditions for Emporia’s main arterials and residential collector streets were just starting to clear by Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, while residential streets were snowpacked. Regardless, the wet sand consistency of the weekend snowfall was aggravated by the light, fluffy snowfall that developed late Thursday afternoon.
Crews have been out blading and treating streets Friday, and a combination of sunshine and temperatures near 30 degrees have helped traffic get closer to normal speeds on the arterials and collector streets. Residential streets are still dealing with the sandy consistency of snow.
Authorities and emergency crews have dealt with several reported injury crashes during and after the most recent snowfall. A wreck Friday developed on Interstate 35 near the Kansas Highway 130 exit. Emporia Fire Capt. Ryan Schmidt says nobody was transported.
Thursday night had two wrecks about two hours apart, both at the Kansas Turnpike’s Emporia southbound exit. The first wreck started with a semi stuck in a ditch from a prior slideoff. Shortly before 10 pm, a second semi slid off the ramp, went into a ditch and hit the first semi and a nearby fence. The driver of the second semi, 55-year-old Antonio Moreno-Rodriguez of Mexico, was taken to Newman Regional Health with suspected minor injuries.
The second wreck happened shortly before midnight and involved two vehicles, an SUV and the first semi from the original crash. Troopers say the semi was being pulled by a skid steer when the SUV slid off the entry ramp, went through the ditch and rear-ended the semi. Three people in the SUV, all passengers, were transported to Newman Regional Health afterward: 51-year-old Michelle Do of Hugo, Minnesota, with suspected minor injuries; 36-year-old Sokuntheari Hang of Saint Paul, Minnesota, with suspected minor injuries; and 46-year-old Loan Nguyen of Woodbury, Minnesota, with suspected serious injuries.
Kandrive.gov indicates seasonal driving conditions, or isolated icing, and partly-covered highways for most of the KVOE listening area, although isolated areas near Emporia are now listed as dry. A refreeze is possible overnight into early Saturday, and travel issues could return Saturday evening with a mix of rain, snow and freezing rain possible.
KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media will have travel and schedule adjustment updates.
