Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Christmas may not have been overly white, but the heavy coating of snow from the weekend storm has extended the Christmas break for area schools.
A weather emergency was declared for the city of Warsaw until noon today to allow for crews to clear snow from the roadways.
North Webster, Syracuse and Winona Lake also remained under a snow emergency this morning.
In addition to schools, county and city offices and many businesses were closed for the day.
"Most secondary county roads have not been plowed yet as of this time," Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine said about 9 a.m. today. The biggest problems occurring Sunday were with stranded motorists, he said, adding that officers were enlisted to deliver prescription medications to residents who were snowed in and fresh water to people whose pipes were frozen.
Snow plows were being used primarily to clear the way for emergency vehicles at the peak of the storm, with at least three entries on the sheriff's department telephone log for females in labor on Sunday.
Telephones rang busy at highway garages, but other officials said they believed the plows were out in full force to move the snow and heavy drifts off the roads. Several county roads were drifted shut at various times, including County Farm Road, where it is estimated a 10-foot drift of snow occluded the road Saturday.
Officials at Kosciusko Community Hospital reported few weather-related health emergencies, although at least one patient complained of chest pain after shoveling snow today.
Grocery stores were busy despite the weather, with Marsh Supermarket, Buffalo Street, Warsaw, receiving literally hundreds of telephone calls from customers checking to see if the store was open, according to manager Dan Boggs.
Many people were purchasing odds and ends, Boggs said, with some customers shopping for large orders. "We've been shopped hard," he said, "but we've managed to stay open." A truckload of items was delivered from the Marsh warehouse in Indianapolis Sunday night and a milk truck was at the store this morning.
Store manager Larry McDonald of Owen's Supermarket, West Center Street, Warsaw, said staples such as milk, eggs and bread were running low, but trucks were coming in already or expected this morning to replenish the stock.
"People haven't forgot the old days," McDonald said. "They get scared when they see the storm warnings."
Both stores expect to have shelves cleaned and restocked in time for the next round of flurries predicted to hit the area Wednesday.
