Slick roads Monday morning
Roads were slick and slushy in the early morning hours northwest of Kansas City.
Freezing rain came down from Kansas City to Camden Point, Mo., just 20 miles south of St. Joseph. Adding to the ice and snow already on the road, it made for a slippery commute for drivers.
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A semi was spotted in a ditch along I-29 North, with tow truck crews working to haul it out.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol recommends calling a tow truck company if commuters slide off the highway. Getting out of the vehicle should be a last-resort option. Trooper Jeffrey Billings suggests keeping essentials like water, small snacks and blankets in the car while waiting for help.
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"We recommend that nobody get out of their car because then you are a target if another car slides off and hits you,” Billings said. “If you're in your car and you're buckled, then you're safe, so if you have to stay there a while before help arrives, you have plenty of things to keep you warm and keep you sustained.”
Tow truck companies were in high demand Monday morning. Overland Tow Service on Merriam Lane on the Kansas side has seven trucks, all of which were out on the highways responding to the huge number of wrecks after the morning’s sleet. They teamed up with other tow truck companies and police departments to haul cars out of ditches and medians on I-35 and 69 Highway.
Owner Joe Meyer said they’ve been bombarded with calls and were two hours behind.
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“As much as we would like to get to every call within 30 minutes, it’s not going to happen,” Meyer said. “When this kind of weather happens, everybody’s busy. We just try to get the calls in order and the emergencies first. When the police department calls us, we usually have to respond to them within 20 to 30 minutes. So if it’s a car sitting in a garage, it’s going to have to wait a little bit.”
Meyer said it costs around $85 to get a vehicle out of a ditch. If a vehicle goes over a guardrail, the wheels break off, or more work is required, then it could cost hundreds.
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Sarah Plake can be reached at sarah.plake@kshb.com.
