Freezing rain coats trees & powerlines, causing power outages, blocking roads

NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT

Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018, 2:30 a.m. — Hours of sleet and freezing rain kept first-responders busy late Wednesday night and into the early hours of Thursday morning, with accumulating ice turning parts of local roads into what on first-responder called “solid sheets of ice.”

As ice accumulated on utility lines and tree limbs around the county Wednesday evening, the weight left some utility lines hanging perilously low over roadways, downed other utility lines, and downed trees and tree limbs.

Beginning about 10 p.m. and over the next several hours, the Bardstown Fire Department and Nelson County Fire Department responded to a number of reports of power lines arcing and catching tree limbs on fire, or trees and tree limbs blocking roadways.

City firefighters were called to the Nelson County Jail at about 10:35 p.m. after a person called and said the power was out at the jail and there was the smell of smoke inside the facility. Firefighters investigated and determined the report was a false alarm, though the electricity was out in areas of town including Maple Hill.

As the evening wore on, first-responders reported the county’s bridges and overpasses were ice coated, as were some city streets and KY 245 heading north into Bullitt County.

Nelson County remains under a Winter Weather Advisory until 6 a.m. Thursday morning.

At 2 a.m., the temperature was at 32 degrees and the National Weather Service forecast was for the temperature to gradually rise to 35 degrees by 9 a.m. with the sleet and freezing rain shifting over to rain.

Be aware of the possibility of ice on overpasses, bridges and sidewalks during the Thursday morning commute.

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