Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Winter Storm Causes Few Problems In Co.

Disaster was possible when the sleet began to fall Thursday afternoon.

The potential for problems increased Friday as the temperatures plummeted, more sleet fell and snow was thrown into the mix.

However, for the most part, there were few problems.

The weather was the contributing factor for a 44-year-old Magnolia woman being killed in a one-vehicle accident on Highway 53 near Brockman's Hill.

It was also the reason an 18-wheeler clipped a 1987 Ford Escort and five people were injured.

Other than these two accidents, though, disaster was avoided.

Nevada County Judge John Barham said the county didn't do much cleanup because of the weather, with the courthouse closing Friday morning.

He said the roads into Prescott from the more rural areas of the county were so bad he thought it was too dangerous for county employees to come in.

As of Monday morning, there was still ice on gravel roads where there was a lot of shade.

Bridges in the county were salted and sanded Friday and were completely dry by Monday morning, Barham said.

Additionally, he said there was no tree damage, or even trees down to his knowledge.

The Office of Emergency Services had generators available if needed, but with no reports of power outages, the generators were not needed by residents of the county.

Chad Cornelius, owner of the Nevada County Ambulance Service, said his crews were busy with medical runs, but other than the accident on Interstate 30 and one fall Saturday, there were no problems.

Fred Harris, with Alliance Home Health Care, said his workers had to do some innovative transportation Friday.

Those with four-wheel drive vehicles helped aides get to various locations in the county. They also took people to grocery stores to get milk and bread, along with any other staples they may need.

"We touched base with all our clients and made sure they had something to eat," Harris said.

"It was an interesting day Friday," he continued. "I'm glad it's over."

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said the area got lucky. Inside the city, he said, there were no problems and everything went smooth.

There were no power outages inside Prescott, though some had their water lines freeze. Taylor said he knew of the frozen water lines and people left their water dripping during the frigid weather because of the water usage.

"We were as ready as we could be if anything had happened," he said.