GALION — Winter storm Landon left much of north central Ohio snow covered, including Galion and Crawford County.
“Last night when rain turned to snow our guys were already out treating the roads,” City of Galion Communications Director Matt Echelberry said.
City workers who treat the roads were tasked with working extra hours to try to keep the roads usable.
“They are normally on eight-hour shifts. Until the snow ends they will be working 12-hour shifts,” Echelberry said.
By 3:15 p.m. Thursday the city had already used a whopping 125 tons of salt. That number was expected to increase substantially.
On Thursday morning, the Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 3 had 13 plow trucks on Crawford County roads, said Kaitlyn Thompson, ODOT public information officer.
Crawford County went under a Level 1 snow emergency in the final hour of Wednesday. That Level 1 snow emergency was upgraded to a Level 2 at 5 a.m. Thursday morning.
The snow resulted in other issues.
“We had to close child care completely,” a Galion YMCA spokesperson said. “We are going to be closing at noon to combat the snow.”
Parents who rely on child care programs like the one at the YMCA had to look for alternatives. It was an easy call for the YMCA to make, the same call that others had to look at making.
“If it gets worse we may have to close early,” a manager at H.R. Wolf Hardware said. “Business has definitely been slower today.”
Local eateries felt the same problem. Bistro 217 was one of the local spots that made the call to close early, at 2 p.m
“Oh yeah, it has definitely effected us. We are going to close in five minutes,” said Holly Rose.
All Crawford County schools also closed Thursday and Friday.
Clearing the roadways was no easy task. Snow fell throughout Thursday, sometimes at a rate of an inch an hour.
Some folks were able to enjoy a day off of work.“This is one of the worst storms we have had in quite a while, I believe,” a Crestline man said.
“The wind isn’t making it any better. I am home from work today, enjoying the day off. Well kind of … lots of shoveling.”
By 5 p.m. Crawford County was under a Level 3 snow emergency. This meant all non-emergency vehicles to stay off the road.
No major accidents were reported.
The winter storm was the biggest of the season, with more than 10 inches of snow falling Thursday alone. Predictions called for a total of 9-12 inches.
As of Friday at 10 a.m. it was lowered to a Level 2.
According to the National Weather Service forecast, the snow was expected to end by Friday morning. Sunny skies are expected this weekend, with a high Saturday near 18 and Sunday near 26, with little to no additional accumulation expected.
