Butler County communities wade through challenges, cleanup of winter storm
Road crews and emergency services banded together Monday, Jan. 26, after a winter storm dropped 11-18 inches of snow throughout Butler County, the most the county had seen in a single day since 2010.
A U.S. National Weather Service spokesperson in Pittsburgh said by Monday morning the northern parts of the county received 14 to 18 inches of snow while the southern portion received 11 to 12 inches. He said a snow band that was positioned across the north led to its increased snowfall.
The last time Butler County saw this much snowfall over a wide area was Feb. 15, 2010, when it snowed 10 to 12 inches in one day, the weather service said.
The next closest it got to the weekend’s snowfall was in March of 2018 when it snowed around 8.5 inches.
Butler County 911 Coordinator Rob McLafferty said Sunday was a slower day than normal for emergency calls, which he attributed to the heavy snowfall. He said only five crashes were reported between midnight Sunday and Monday morning.
“We appreciate everybody heeding the advice to stay off the roads,” McLafferty said.
The City of Butler had five plow trucks operating for 24 hours straight, according to Troy Douthett, the director of streets and public improvements.
Residents around Butler County reported snow to be between 14 and 19.5 inches Monday morning, according to the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, a volunteer-based network accredited by the U.S. National Weather Service that measures precipitation.
With all the snow, Monday morning’s commute included driving along snow-covered roads. In some municipalities, there were side roads untouched by a plow.
“It’s hard to keep up with 1-to-2-inch-per-hour rates (of snowfall),” a weather service spokesperson said.
Douthett said his crews took a break from plowing Monday morning and plan to get back to it Tuesday morning. Their goal was to make most of town passable. That meant some alleys and side streets may still have snow, but there should be a passable road nearby, he said.
Butler road crews will shift to clearing the extra snow laying around the city throughout the week. Douthett said with the increased amount of snowfall, conversations are still occurring on where to dump excess snow, which could be a problem for residents, too. Douthett also reminded residents clearing their vehicles that dumping snow on a street creates unsafe conditions and can incur a fine.
Further looking ahead, his crews will determine how to best use their salt supply as temperatures drop during the week.
“We’re pretty limited on salt,” Douthett said.
He said the city’s salt supplier, Compass Minerals, has had supply chain issues, which has left multiple municipalities in the area low on salt.
Also low on salt was Chicora, the borough said in a weekend Facebook post.
“Due to the high demand for road salt by all municipalities, Chicora borough did not receive our scheduled delivery of salt this week leaving us with a short supply in the face of the coming snowstorm,” the post said.
Because of the low stockpile, the borough planned to apply a minimal amount of anti-skid during the storm, but continually plowed all borough streets through the storm.
“Normal amounts of anti-skid will be applied to borough streets when the storm has ended,” the post said.
Butler Ambulance Service responded to 31 calls throughout the storm Sunday, according to director Jesse Haas, all while dealing with varying levels of road impassibility and top speeds of 25 mph in most cases.
“Trying to get around on the roads was one of the biggest challenges,” he said.
However, fire departments stepped up to help. Haas said many fire departments have been responding to EMS calls proactively to assist with access. Prospect and West Sunbury volunteer fire departments, Butler Township Fire District and Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company all lent utility-terrain vehicles or 4x4 pickup trucks with plows to assist EMS services with access.
He added Connoquenessing Volunteer Fire Company arranged for a driveway to be plowed for EMS services, and Unionville Volunteer Fire Company and Penn Township Volunteer Fire Department assisted with additional crews.
Haas said 18 of the calls came between 2 and 9 p.m. Sunday when people were beginning to dig themselves out. He said many of the calls came from falls, people stuck in the snow and medical emergencies that occurred earlier but were reported later.
He said falls are commonly caused by the layer of ice underneath the snow exposed when people shovel their driveways and walkways. In other cases, people may experience fatigue or chest pain when shoveling snow and wait to report it.
“Today has been just as much of a challenge as yesterday was,” Haas said.
In the first 8.5 hours of the day Monday, the ambulance service had already received 29 calls.
The Emergency Communications Center was also in almost constant contact with the U.S. National Weather Service monitoring weather alerts and with utility companies in the area monitoring for outages, McLafferty said. He was not aware of any notable outages during the storm.
In case of outages, McLafferty said all radio towers the center utilizes are equipped with backup generators.
McLafferty said much of the center’s heavy lifting came during preparation for the storm. Most of it involved organizing schedules for adequate staffing overnight, even if dispatchers were snowed in.
The center had a contingency plan to pick up dispatchers from their homes if they could not drive to work, McLafferty said.
Only one emergency communications center employee had to sleep at the center while off the clock. McLafferty added he knew of several employees at Butler Memorial Hospital who volunteered to stay overnight.
Attempts to reach an Independence Health System representative about the employees who volunteered to stay were not immediately successful.
The emergency communications center was looking ahead Monday to the cold temperatures expected throughout the week and reminded residents to watch for carbon monoxide.
Common causes of carbon monoxide poisoning include faulty equipment and improper use of fuel-burning appliances, such as within enclosed spaces or for heating.
Carbon monoxide poising causes symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain and confusion. It commonly appears as multiple family members getting sick at the same time.
The emergency communications center recommends installing and maintaining carbon monoxide detectors around the home.
For emergencies that don’t require calling 911, such as snow removal, heating and food assistance and shelter, the emergency communications center recommends dialing 211.
McLafferty also reminded residents that calling 911 about roads that are yet to be plowed is not an appropriate use of the service.
Douthett also supported this, saying crews are working to clear roads as fast as possible.
