Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
With wind chill dipping down to -35 degrees overnight, being outdoors in Kosciusko County is not advisable for humans or pets.
A Warsaw area man suffered a heart attack yesterday while shoveling snow. He was transferred to a Fort Wayne hospital from Kosciusko Community Hospital.
Temperatures were expected to be bitterly cold today and Saturday before the warm-up begins Sunday. Highs Sunday are expected to reach the lower 20s in northern Indiana and the middle 30s to the south.
The local animal shelter reported only one fatality this week, perhaps because of owners using their heads.
"The biggest advice I can give to pet owners is use common sense: Get these animals out of this weather," said Kay Amsden, operations manager for the Kosciusko County Animal Shelter.
"If your animal has to be outside make sure that it has very adequate protection," said Amsden. She said a lot of the problems she encounters result from a lack of common sense.
Amsden had several common sense tips for pet owners:
jj Check your pets when they come back in from outside. Amsden suggested looking for frozen paws, salt in between paws and frozen ears.
jj Just putting your pet inside the garage is not enough. Be sure the animal has some protection from the cold concrete.
jj Bang the hood or honk your horn prior to starting your car. Amsden said outside cats will crawl inside the hood to find protection from the cold.
jj Check the animals' water at least three times a day. Give your pet fresh water when you get home from work and before you go in the morning.
jj Watch pets when you put them out. Animals can become disoriented in cold and windy weather.
jj Owners should provide bedding for their animals. Blankets, old towels, straw or old clothing provide good insulation from the cold.
The Kosciusko County Animal Shelter can be reached at 267-3008. The office hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.
The rest of Indiana is still reeling from yesterday's storm.
The storm that dumped as much as 14 inches of snow in some parts of Indiana was followed by a blast of bitterly cold air that sent temperatures into the single digits. With wind gusts of up to 35 mph, the wind chills plummeted to 30 and 40 below.
The northern third of Indiana was under a winter weather advisory, while a wind chill advisory was issued for the central and southern parts of the state.
Purdue University canceled today's classes because of the wind and cold.
There isn't much snow in the forecast, giving people a chance to dig out from the second major storm in a week. The South Bend area got the worst of it, with nearly 14 inches falling from Wednesday to Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service said.
Central and southern Indiana got about 3 inches of snow, though blowing and drifting probably made it seem like more. More than 30 counties declared snow or ice emergencies.
Roads were a mess of snow, ice and slush, and blowing snow didn't make traveling any easier. Nearly 30 miles of the Indiana Toll Road's westbound lanes closed Thursday afternoon from South Bend to LaPorte because so many semi-trucks had slid off the road.
"We had them going off three and four at a time," said Sue Brioli, a radio operator at the Indiana State Police's Toll Road post. The Toll Road reopened about 5 p.m.
Interstate 65 near Lafayette was closed in both directions during the afternoon by drifting snow, backing traffic up for miles. Northbound lanes were opened in the evening, but southbound lanes remained blocked at 9 p.m. because of a nine-car pile-up.
The U.S. 20 bypass in St. Joseph County was shut down for part of the afternoon Thursday because of numerous accidents. U.S. 31 North in Hamilton County closed earlier in the day after winds of 40 mph triggered whiteout conditions.
In Marshall County, four highway department plows got stuck in different ditches, foreman Neal Haeck said.
"It's not uncommon to have one or two stuck," he said. "Three is odd and four, well, four is really unusual."
Parents found it unusual that the South Bend and Mishawaka public schools stayed open while almost every other school in the region closed. Even the University of Notre Dame closed at noon Thursday.
"We are sitting within a few miles of a blizzard warning area," said Jim Black, who drove two of his children across the street to their classes at Kennedy Elementary School.
"Authorities are encouraging people to stay off the roads," he said. "It's ridiculous to have school today."
At truck stops across Interstate 80-90, truckers spent Thursday morning waiting for a break in the weather before venturing out again.
"They hang out in their trucks, hang out in here, eat lunch, drink coffee," said Mona Duncan, a worker at the Amoco Food Shop on U.S. 20 in Bristol. "It's starting to clear up, so everybody's leaving before it starts all over again."
The snow caused problems at airports, as well. At the Michiana Regional Transportation Center, several flights were cancelled because of poor visibility or bad weather elsewhere, said John Schalliol, airport director.
"We won't approach a regular schedule until tomorrow morning," he said Thursday afternoon.
