Central Oklahoma, including Lincoln and Pottawatomie Counties, experienced sub-zero wind chills and snow causing slick and hazardous roads across much of the area.
Lincoln County Emergency Management Director Cody McDonell said on Monday, “It hasn’t been too bad. On Sunday we were busy with crashes, but those wrapped up about by 3 p.m. or so and so far it’s been pretty good.”
He said Sunday started out prior to the snow beginning when about 10 a.m. there was the report of a missing kid from a residence in the southwest portion of the county.
“The kid was located within about 30 minutes,” McDonell noted.
Lincoln County Sheriff Sgt. Aaron Bennett, who is also Public Information Officer, said Deputy Jack Jackson found the kid.
Bennett said Jackson saw the kid walking down the road, though he wasn’t sure of the exact location.
“It was reported as a 16-year-old autistic juvenile,” Bennet stated.
McDonell said after the call came in, “We put up four drones and there were two of us who also joined in the search.”
He pointed out the Sheriff’s Office activated its Special Operations Team and that Wellston Fire Department and Southwest Fire also assisted.
McDonell reported two EM personnel were headed to Chandler Sunday to assist with a situation at 1st and Manvel where some semi-tractor trailers were causing a traffic jam when they couldn’t make it up the hill.
“In turn, the some sand trucks were in the middle of it and stuck briefly, but got out of it and got the road sanded,” he added.
McDonell said there was a twovehicle collision on SH 102 south of Wellston between 1000 Road and 1020 Road early Sunday afternoon. “The road was blocked for nearly three hours,” McDonell reported.
“One vehicle was pulling a horse trailer. They transported at least one,” he added.
McDonell said he helped block traffic for the duration of that collision.
“Other than the turnpike, that was about the only crash,” he stated.
He said Emergency Management didn’t run on the westbound turnpike collision at Chandler Sunday involving multiple vehicles, but that Chandler Fire Department did respond.
According to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, the westbound lanes of the Turner Turnpike were closed Sunday afternoon and early evening for more than 2½ hours due to that multivehicle collision.
No information regarding details or possible injuries had been reported as of earlier this week.
McDonell said less than two inches of the white stuff fell across most of Lincoln County, noting that there could have been a little more than that in the northern part.
Lincoln County District 3 Commissioner Lee Doolen reported his crews were on standby just in case something came up.
Pottawatomie County District 1 Commissioner Melissa Dennis, whose district covers the northern portion of Pott County, said the county’s Emergency Management had informed her no crews were needed as of Monday.