Areas of Kosciusko County saw up to 9 inches of snow fall Wednesday. According to the NOAA National Weather Service in North Webster, areas in Warsaw received 6 to 6-1/2 inches. North Webster and Syracuse received 7 to 9 inches. In the area, Nappanee reported snowfall of 8 to 10 inches and Laporte County reached emergency status as a county with 14 to 17 inches. More snow is expected to fall throughout today. Ed Rock, Kosciusko County Emergency Management director, advised that the county is at an Orange status, meaning that drivers should exercise extreme caution and only travel if necessary. With wind speeds increasing today, county roads could experience large snow drifts, Rock said. City roads are drivable, but county roads should be avoided so that plows can continue to clear them. On Wednesday, 42 property damage accidents were reported to Kosciusko County Central Dispatch. There were 22 personal injury crashes, 64 slide-offs and seven unknown vehicle crashes. Today, there has been at least two property damage crashes and 11 slide-offs, according to the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department. Kosciusko County Government offices are closed today. All schools in the Warsaw, Wawasee, Triton, Whitko, Manchester and Tippecanoe Valley school districts are closed. NIPSCO experienced significant outages due to heavy snow and high winds. As of 7 p.m. Wednesday, approximately 30,000 customers were without power – 39,000 were affected by the storm in total. More than 250 NIPSCO employees are working to assess and respond to the damage, with the support of additional resources working in the call center and emergency command center to focus on power restoration efforts. An additional 112 outside resources from neighboring utilities and contractors have been secured for added support. The storm conditions have not ended and are forecasted to continue into tomorrow, with the potential for damaging wind gusts through Friday. Low visibility, the loss of sunlight and poor road conditions can hamper response times and the ability for NIPSCO crews to access and make the necessary repairs, according to a press release from the company. At this time, NIPSCO expects a multi-day cleanup effort. Once the storm subsides, NIPSCO will be able to make a better assessment on estimated restorations times - which could improve or worsen depending on the weather conditions. Crews will continue to work around the clock to restore service, the release states. A list of known warming shelters and future updates will be available at NIPSCO.com/outagecenter.
