5 Deaths Caused by Wintry Snow and Ice Storm
A pre-winter storm slammed parts of the South and lower Midwest, causing five deaths on slippery roads and stranding travelers for more than eight hours on an icy Arkansas interstate.
The wintry weather was barreling eastward Thursday, with snow and ice expected from Ohio and the Appalachian Mountains through Washington, D.C., New York and New England.
Snow fell as far southeast as central Alabama, which got a dusting. While wintry precipitation is unusual in the Deep South so early in the season, forecasters said the overnight trace missed setting a record for earliest snow by about two weeks.
In Mississippi, a tour bus bound for a casino overturned, leaving two people dead and 44 others injured.
In the Little Rock, Arkansas, area, three people were killed in separate crashes on icy roads Wednesday night, while Interstate 40 was shut down overnight in the eastern part of the state because of several crashes near the White River bridge.
Two dead, 44 hurt in bus crash on an icy road near Memphis, #Tennessee. #Weather Details here: https://t.co/YbUE2oN60a pic.twitter.com/f6LcamAGFM
— WEAR ABC 3 (@weartv) November 15, 2018
Witnesses told Mississippi investigators the tour bus driver lost control after crossing an icy overpass and the bus rolled over on its driver’s side, coming to rest in the median of Interstate 269 in Byhalia around 12:35 p.m., said Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Capt. Johnny Poulos.
“All of a sudden the bus started swerving, then it spun around two times, hit the rail and then flipped over,” passenger Veronica Love told news outlets as she left a hospital after the wreck. “The second spin, it started picking up speed. It was, I mean, what could you do?”
The crash happened about 35 miles southeast of downtown Memphis, Tennessee.
Killed were Betty Russell, 70, and Cynthia Hardin, 61, both of Huntsville, Alabama, said DeSoto County Coroner Joshua Pounders.
The injured were taken to Memphis-area hospitals, with at least three listed in serious condition Wednesday evening.
Officials said the group was traveling from Huntsville, Alabama, to gamble at a casino in Mississippi’s Tunica County, about 40 miles to the west.
While skies are clear for us, that’s not the case everywhere. The winter weather that moved through eastern Arkansas yesterday has expanded and exploded over the Ohio Valley and the lower Great Lakes – with several winter weather watches, warnings and advisories in effect today. pic.twitter.com/cAs6Yi3wee
— Laura Huckabee (@4029Laura) November 15, 2018
Around the upper South, meanwhile, the storm spread scattered sleet and light snow Wednesday.
In Virginia, NASA said the planned launch early Thursday of an unmanned cargo rocket to the International Space Station had to be rescheduled by one day because of the weather. The unmanned Cygnus cargo craft is now scheduled to launch early Friday from Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore, carrying supplies and research materials for the astronauts at the space station.
Elsewhere, an ice storm hitting parts of Indiana shut down schools and left hazardous conditions on roadways Thursday morning.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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