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Snowstorm cripples counties
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Times photo: Brenda Steurer Kevin Linak digs out Thursday morning after a snowstorm left up to 18 inches of fresh snow in the Monroe area. People in Monroe spent most of the day cleaning up after the storm, which caused school cancellations Wednesday and Thursday and made driving almost impossible.
MONROE - Residents in Green and Lafayette counties were digging out this morning and trying to get back to normal after a winter storm dumped up to 18 inches of snow on the area Tuesday and Wednesday.

Most schools were canceled, traveling was treacherous and many people found themselves stranded, looking for a place to stay.

Some area schools remained closed today while others were delayed. Monroe, Albany, Brodhead, Black Hawk, Juda, New Glarus and Monticello schools closed Thursday, while Argyle, Belleville, Darlington, Pecatonica and Shullsburg schools were delayed.

The heavy snow and windy conditions caused more than just school cancellations Wednesday as traveling became difficult early and remained so for the rest of the day.

In an unprecedented move, Green County Highway Commissioner Dallas Cecil pulled the snow plows off the road due to continued snowing, blowing and drifting. Cecil called the plows off the road around 11:30 a.m. due to high winds. Snowplow drivers had been out since 4 a.m. trying to clear the roads.

The plows were only sent out in cases of emergency.

Cecil said drivers faced poor visibility and blowing winds on Wisconsin 11 and Wis. 81 but also had to battle snow drifts on Wis. 39 and Wis. 92.

Cecil said it was the first time he can remember pulling the plows off the road.

"It was entirely only for safety reasons. Crews said they couldn't see the front of their trucks," Cecil said.

County snow plow trucks were out from 3:30 until 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and went out again at 4 this morning.

"All the roads are open; there are still some narrow spots," Cecil said. "And we'll be salting too, with a 50/50 mix" of salt and limestone chips.

The county had a few extra trucks on the roads Wednesday, including four V-plows with four-wheel drive. Today, two are out with the 24 trucks.

In Lafayette County, Highway Commissioner Tom Jean said all county roads are open. Roads are still snow-covered, snow-packed and slippery, but are getting chip mix.

"With warmer temperatures, it should work pretty well," he said.

Road crews put in "lots of overtime," Jean said, but never had to be pulled off the roads. "We didn't want to lose what we had (done)," he said.

Crews were out until 8 or 9 p.m. and all the roads were open then. Trucks went out again at 4 a.m. today.

Jean said they had a lot of breakdowns.

"Machines were getting tired; the men were getting tired. But the maintenance staff is doing an excellent job getting them back on the road," he said.

Monroe city crews kept emergency routes open all day Wednesday. Monroe Street Department Supervisor Tom Boll said all streets should be driveable today. All crews went out at 1:30 a.m. Thursday.

"We were in pretty good shape from last night," he said. "Salting the emergency routes today should start to get those getting broken up."

Boll said crews' efforts were hampered Wednesday with the extra duty of pulling out cars stuck in the snow.

"We did the subdivisions early and couldn't keep up with the way it was coming down," he said. "We'll be using sand/salt mixture in the subdivisions as temperatures rise."

Monroe Airport Supervisor Rob Driver closed the airport Tuesday night and said it may be a couple days before they get all the snow plowed out.

"Wind gusts reached 33 miles per hour out here yesterday," he said. "Janesville reached 60; I'm glad we didn't have that."

Driver said he worked for four hours Wednesday night trying to get the snow cleared from the driveway, just so people could get into the airport.

This morning he and another employee started working at 3 a.m. By 8:30, he said he was ready to give up.

"We have snow drifts five to six feet high," he said.

Green County Sheriff Randy Roderick said that during the day Wednesday his department received more than 100 calls reporting vehicles stuck in traffic or ditches. Roderick said the vehicles included cars, four-wheel drive trucks and semis.

As of this morning, 11 vehicles remained stranded along Wis. 69 between Monroe and Monticello.

Roderick called it one of the worst storms he can remember.

"You not only had the snow but you had the wind. I've never seen white-out conditions in the city," he said.

Two accidents with vehicle damage were reported by the Sheriff's Department.

• No one was injured in a one-vehicle accident around 3:15 p.m. in the 3700 block of Wis. 59. Deputies report a snowplow driven by Jeffery C. Vandlen, 45, Monroe, was plowing out a driveway for an ambulance call when it went down an embankment and overturned. The plow received moderate damage and was left at the scene until road conditions improved.

• No one was injured in a one-vehicle accident around 3:15 p.m. in the W200 block of Wis. 11. Deputies report a semi driven by Harpal Sangha, 35, Auburn, Wash., slid off the road and jackknifed. The semi received extensive damage and was left at the scene until road conditions improved.

The Monroe Police Department reported this morning there were eight calls from people who were stuck and needed help.

The Lafayette County Sheriff's Department reported "numerous" vehicle in ditches but no exact number was available this morning.

In Monroe, the terrible weather forced city hall to close around 11 a.m. Wednesday and caused several churches to cancel their planned Ash Wednesday services.

As the snow continued to pummel the area, several people found themselves unable to go anywhere.

Super 8 and AmericInn both allowed people to stay in their lobbies.

Green County Emergency Management also set up a shelter for people at Pleasant View who couldn't get to where they were going because of the weather. Director Keith Ingwell couldn't give an exact number of how many people the county helped because of confidentiality laws but said "a few" people received help from the county.

Across Wisconsin, the National Guard was dispatched to help in Dane and Rock counties after Gov. Jim Doyle declared a state of emergency in those counties.