Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Blizzard Hits Area Thursday

Winter 2000 came with a vengeance, blanketing the area with about 16 inches of snow.

Snow began falling around 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26, and didn't stop until around 10:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 28.

In its wake there was naught but a silent shroud of white danger. The ground was covered with a soft blanket of trouble.

Scanner traffic began getting heavy early on during the snow as motorist were unable to control their vehicles. Interstate 30 was impassable as semis were jackknifed and blocked traffic lanes. Cars and pickup trucks slid into the median.

The Arkansas National Guard was called in to help with the traffic situation. Guardsmen helped stranded motorists to shelters, while working with the Arkansas State Police and Clark County Sheriff's Office to clear the roads.

Schools and all school-related events were closed Thursday and Friday as the snow piled up and made it impossible for buses to make their rounds.

Officials urged people to stay home if possible, and for those who couldn't to use extreme caution when driving. All the care in the world didn't help as the snows continued falling Thursday, causing nothing but problems for drivers.

In Gurdon, the Street Department employees patrolled the streets, checking for bad areas Thursday. Friday morning saw the workers blading the more vital streets in town.

By 9 a.m. Thursday, the snowfall was incredibly heavy, covering the streets and making them slippery, letting motorist have a taste of what was to come.

A short 30 minutes later, the streets were blanketed with about an inch of snow.

This brought people out and to the stores. Thomason's Big Star had a run on bread and milk. Terry Thomason, owner of the store, said they'd had a second delivery of bread, but before 10 a.m. the shelves were barren.

Customers also flocked to Bill's Dollar Store, McGee's, Doug's Grocery and the two Red-E-Marts to stock up on supplies to get them through the storm.

The temperature, a "balmy" 26 degrees at 8 a.m., had dropped a full degree an hour later. Then came the winds from the north, harshly blowing the snow into drifts against stationary objects.

Randy Jerry, with Entergy, said there had been no outages in the area, but added emergency crews had been called from out-of-state just in case.

Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith said Entergy has, historically, always worked to get the electricity back on in municipalities first so emergency services could be provided.

By 10:15 snowflakes the size of silver dollars were falling from the bleak gray skies, with no signs of slowing down in sight.

Gurdon City Marshal David Childres had snow chains put on all police cars and the city's rescue vehicle so officers and emergency workers could travel in the snow.

Jake McBride, Gurdon fire chief, offered tips to help prevent homes from catching on fire during the snow.

The problem, he said, is people tend to build fires too big in trying to stay warm. These fires get out of control and burn houses.

He suggested making sure all gas heaters were cleaned and checked, telling those with space heaters not to turn the flame up too high.

For those with fireplaces or wood heaters, he said, the same tips held true, but they need to be sure the flues are unobstructed.

Another problem with space heaters and wood stoves cause, he said, is a buildup of carbon monoxide indoors. This can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning and death if undetected.

Mostly, McBride said, people just need to use common sense with fires.

Children had a field day with the snow. They'd been given a reprieve from the grind at school and could go out build snow people and have snowball fights.

This was a snow as none of Gurdon's children had ever seen before. It was one they will be able to tell their children and grandchildren about.

By noon, four to six inches of snow covered the ground, with more falling from the heavens. Four-wheel drive vehicles and ATVs were about the only things able to get around in the mess.

Conditions continued to deteriorate to the point of white-out conditions. Visibility dropped to near nothing as the snowfall was relentless and heavy.

Quickly people learned this part of the country isn't geared to deal with any significant snowfall.

In northern states cities and counties purchase snow plows to help keep their roads clear in winter months. They also salt the streets to keep the snow and ice from sticking too much.

But down south, such extreme winter weather conditions don't occur often enough to make such expenditures practical.

Cities and counties have more important ways to spend their limited funds than buying snow removal equipment.

Therefore, when blizzards, such as this, hit, all are unprepared.

A check of the weather radar at noon on the Internet showed a massive cell heading from Northeast Texas toward Southwest Arkansas, promising even more snow. The system delivered on its promise.

Mail carriers were given no breaks because of the weather conditions. They were out and about delivering the mail, braving the elements as they made their appointed rounds.

Traffic downtown came to a standstill in the early afternoon Thursday as a foot of snow had been dumped on the ground.

Movement on streets, highways, roads and the interstate had been slowed to a crawl, and a very slow one. More and more motorists found themselves stranded, in the medians or in ditches.

Many were taken to the shelters established at the First United Methodist Church and Beech Street Baptist Church. Smith raided the school's cafeterias to help provide bread and foodstuffs for the shelters.

This continued throughout the night and into Friday.

Friday morning, though, saw few people out and about. Most who were had good reason to be as they were trying to clear streets.

Officials with the CCSO said the situation across the county was bad as 12 to 16 inches of snow had fallen.

Fortunately, they said, there had been no problems with utilities.