Storm yields dozens of traffic incidents

Dennis Young tosses ice melt to Andrew Marcy in the Steak and Shake parking lot on Worley Street on Tuesday. Although there was enough snowfall for the pair to stay busy, they said they were expecting the conditions to be worse.   ¦  Valerie Mosley

COLUMBIA — At least four accidents and 20 incidents of cars sliding off the road have occurred in Columbia since 7 a.m. Tuesday, a city official said.

Suzanne Fred, Public Safety Joint Communications supervisor, reported no injuries from any of the accidents.

According to Missouri State Highway Patrol traffic reports, a Jefferson City man died Monday night after rolling multiple times off a Highway 54 exit. It is not known if the weather played a role in the fatality.

Two people in the southwest region of Missouri were killed in separate weather-related accidents Monday afternoon, according to Highway Patrol traffic reports. Paula Meyer, 39, of Sparta, and Timothy Upton, 46, of Webb City, both slid off the roadway and struck a tree.

There have been 39 accidents reported in that region since the inclement weather began.

Capt. Tim Hull of the Highway Patrol said most of the storm has struck the southern part of the state, just barely going north of I-70. According to the Missouri Department of Transportation's Web site, most major highways south of the state's main artery are covered or partly covered by snow.

The storm hit earlier in the south than the rest of the state, resulting in more ice  on roadways. Hull said there have been some power outages in the southeast but the storm's biggest impact has been on the roads.

He added weather like Tuesday's also creates other, more personal issues.

"Situations like this where there's more ice, there are power outages, school closures, people can't get to their doctors appointments, people in rural areas can't get prescriptions or go to the grocery store," he said. "But it's supposed to warm up after today. Hopefully, this will be short-lived."

Columbia is slated to get another layer of snow late Tuesday morning and early afternoon to total an additional 1 inch. The cold Tuesday night will hit a low of 6 degrees once the storm passes.