STUCK IN THE SNOW

In 2013, the West Concord Fire Department, helped get passengers off Highway 56, due to a major storm.
Six years later, and they had to do it again, after a historic blizzard made its way to Southeast Minnesota, closing down Highway 56 through Dodge County.
Aside from Highway 56 being closed down, Highway 57 between Kasson and Mantorville was also closed over the weekend.
Throughout Dodge County, the county roads also had the same issues. Although, the county roads weren’t necessarily closed, they were unpassable  at some point during the blizzard.
“Most of the roads at one time or another we’re unpassable,” said Andrew Heser, Dodge County Maintenance Supervisor.
One of the biggest battles, that Heser pointed to is the being able to push huge drifts of snow, on the roads.
Another issue, that the plow drivers faced, was saving people from being stranded, even though people were advised not to drive.
“We had to spend a lot of our time chasing emergencies on Sunday, instead of getting the job done,” Heser said.
According to Sheriff Scott Rose, during the course of the weekend, 186 vehicles were stuck on or off the road.
With more people using the roads on Sunday, Rose explained that this caused some bigger issues.
“During the daylight hours, motorist really began to travel again which escalated the already dangerous situation public safety was facing. MNDOT Plows continued to work 24/7, however their focus was on “primary roadways” (HWY 14). Highways, 30, 56, and 57 were not plowed and were completely drifted in. In some places drifts were 9’ tall across the entire roadway,” Rose explained.
Heser, explained that the conditions on the road, were very dangerous.
“It was very serious out there,” Heser said. “When they say no travel is advised, they mean it,” he added.
Although, they have had more snow before, during storms, Heser explained that this was the worst storm, because of the wind and cold temperatures.
“This has definitely been the worst,” Heser said.
On Monday, the Dodge County Administration closed its office in the morning, and also let employees stay home, if it was unsafe for them to travel to work.
“We are concerned for the safety of employees and if you do not feel you can travel safely to work at that time, you may use accrued PTO or work with your Department Head to flex your schedule later in the week,” the Facebook post stated.
Because of the horrific weather conditions, those who were stuck in their vehicles had to wait up to hours before they were rescued.
“During this winter storm, some stranded motorists were in their vehicle for multiple hours before public safety responders could reach them. Dispatchers continued to have contact with occupied stranded vehicles, monitoring their status and fuel levels,” Rose stated.  “Rescues were done with heavy snow equipment, fire and law enforcement pickups and SUVs, and snowmobiles,” Rose added.
The concern for vehicles being stuck on roads was also a true reality for emergency responders.
Rose noted that at one point on Sunday, fire trucks responding from Kasson, to a industrial fire in Dodge Center, were stuck in the middle of County Road 34. That prompted the Highway Department to be called, to dig them out with a front loader.
At the same time, Rose explained that an ambulance responding to a medical call, also became stuck in a different location on the county road, causing response times to be delayed significantly.
“Total response times for these emergency vehicles was over an hour while the highway department responded to dig them out,” Rose explained.
In order to make sure there was staff available over the weekend, the Highway Department set up staging sites, and staff from the Sheriff’s Office, committed to staying the weekend, many staying overnight at the Sheriff’s Office, Dodge Center Fire Hall, and Kasson hotel to sleep between shifts.
Down the road from Dodge County, the neighboring county of Steele, had plenty of troubles as well. The road conditions became so poor, US 35 was closed down, and the National Guard had to be called in to help with rescuing motorists.
For MnDot, their battle to get roads open was an uphill battle as well.
“It’s just stunning,” said Michael Dougherty, spokesperson for MnDOT. “Some of the main roads look like a cow path behind an apple tree. It seems strange to think someone would get stuck in the middle of the highway.”
Dougherty said southeastern Minnesota was blasted with a trifecta of things to hit. First, heavy amounts of snow fell at rapid rates with up to a foot. Next came the heavy winds that created snow drifts as high as vehicles followed by plunging temperatures Sunday night into Monday.
“It all combines to make challenging conditions,” Dougherty said. “We just don’t see snow events like this.”
Salt used to treat the roadways becomes ineffective when temperatures dip under 15 degrees, according to Dougherty. He said MnDOT was bringing in trucks from the Twin Cities metro area equipped with chemicals mixed with beet juice to help clear the roadways.
MnDOT also deployed big mounted snow blowers, known as SnoGos, which are mounted on the front of snow plows, from the metro area because the regular plows are unable to handle the drifts, Dougherty said.
“They just started carving into these big drifts,” Dougherty said Monday morning. “They are punching through trying to get one lane open,” he said, adding they will move onto other areas and then go back to clean up the rest of the roadway.
During the height of the blizzard, MnDOT ran snow plows in tandem, Dougherty said. “They were told to stay at a safe distance with two trucks at a time,” he said. “With two trucks tied up, our resources were not as effective, but safety has to prevail.”
As of Monday night, Heser said that all the county roads, were at least passable, but may be down to just one lane.
Heser, explained that because of the very cold temperatures, along with the seven to nine foot drifts, people should be patient, as it will likely take a week or more to get things back to normal.
“When your trying to push out seven to nine foot drifts it just takes time,” Heser said, “It's been an absolute battle,” he added.
Overall, Rose is proud of the first responders, who helped keep Dodge County safe during the blizzard.
“We are very proud of the work all of our public safety partners did over the weekend to keep people safe here in Dodge County – law enforcement, emergency management, fire departments, ambulance services, and city and county highway departments did a tremendous job dealing with this storm,” Rose said.
Rose, is also very thankful for the community members who stepped up during the storm, including, Pastor Barb Streed who came out and helped shelter and feed 16 stranded motorists at Faith Lutheran Church in Dodge Center all night Sunday night.  
“We live in an amazing community here in Dodge County with some incredibly dedicated people here to serve,” Rose said.