Winter storm pummels southeast Wisconsin, leaving roads a mess and thousands without power
SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN (CBS 58) -- A major winter storm is sweeping over southeast Wisconsin Friday, Jan. 12.
Snow started coming down early Friday morning, and it's expected to keep falling throughout the day.
As of 10 a.m., more than 22,000 We Energies customers were without power, with the majority of outages in Milwaukee, Kenosha and Waukesha Counties.
Track the We Energies Outage Map HERE.
Side roads and highways were not spared from the mess. According to the 511 Wisconsin Traffic website, many roads were slippery, snow-covered, or icy. Driving is not advised unless absolutely necessary.
In Milwaukee County Friday morning, the ramps from I-94 east to I-41 north and south were blocked in the Zoo Interchange because of the weather conditions.
According to the Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW), crews are out working to keep streets safe and passable. They are concentrating on main streets and then will move to side streets.
The DPW told us that clean up from this storm could spill well into Monday. There are over a hundred snow plows out, with crews working 12-hour shifts to keep the roads clear and safe as possible.
CLICK THROUGH THE PHOTO GALLERY BELOW CAPTURING SCENES FROM AROUND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN
This afternoon, both Sheboygan County and Fond du Lac Counties declared blizzard warnings. Blizzard warnings are issued when there are sustained winds of more than 35 MPH that last for more than three hours. Plus, a drop in visibility to less than a quarter of a mile. Our crews were in Sheboygan and reported heavy winds and near white out conditions.
According to the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, they responded to 57 disabled cars, 28 accidents with no injuries, and 2 accidents with injuries, as of 9:00 p.m. on Friday.
CBS 58's Duaa Israr talked to truck driver's this afternoon.
In Oak Creek, several truckers say they're driving slowly and cautioning others to do the same.
According to trucker Tony Howard, visibility is low, which is why he says he’s driving almost 30 miles per hour under the speed limit. He says he's encouraging other drivers to do the same and to stay in their lanes.
“The snow is coming down so hard – don’t think that the roads haven’t been hit. It’s just sticking real bad. So, with that, I got my salt in and out in front of my truck, so I don’t stuck nowhere. I keep my shovel in my truck," he said.
Howard says if you have somewhere to be, leave earlier than planned and give yourself enough room in between yourself and the car in front of you.
"Just pay attention, stay safe, and don’t be in a rush to go nowhere and stay in them lines because they mean something," he said.
CBS 58's Michele Fiore spoke to drivers this evening.
It's been a difficult day for professional drivers. Some semis are finding themselves parked for the night because they had no other option.
"Traction is pretty bad. Definitely you got to take your time anything you do it's very slippery," said Joe Mauldin III, Floyd & Sons Towing Inc. Driver.
By late afternoon, this tow truck had already pulled a couple of garbage trucks out of ditches in Racine County. William Owens is from Arkansas. His big rig jackknifed coming off I-94 in Sturtevant.
"When it gets like this, if there's wind, ice, then I just pull over you know, nothing's worth your life," said Owens.
No injuries and his semi's okay, but he's been forced to spend the night at this truck stop on Highway 20.
"I dropped my load off and then the load I was gonna pick up cancelled. Nobody showed up to work. They couldn't get there," said Owens.
Other truckers are choosing to stay parked because of the slippery roads.
"One thing I've learned about trucking is after being around them for 45 years, you know don't pick too many fights with Mother Nature because generally she always wins so if you can sit it out, sit it out," said Todd Jenkins, Semi Driver from Michigan.
Todd Jenkins says he wouldn't risk the drive without a heavy load.
"I only got about eight thousand pounds on so, makes a big difference in the traction you have," said Jenkins.
Truckers advise drivers on four wheels in this kind of weather, to put a lot of distance between themselves and any semis.
"I try to keep as much distance around me as possible because you don't know what the other guy's doing. Half the time I can't see you and when it's snowing, I definitely can't see you," said Owens.
The truck stop's a quiet place now as drivers wait it out, but for other professional drivers, the night's gonna be busy.
"So, we started about 7:a.m. this morning and we've been going nonstop. It's hard for plows to get stuff moved out of there when it's wet and heavy like this, you have to go back three times as normal. So just a lot of work, but we'll get through it. It's Wisconsin, right?" said Chris Zwolinski, Snowplow Driver with Willkomm's Companies.