WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Travel bans are in effect throughout the north country.
That’s because of heavy snowfalls in Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.
7 News anchor Jeff Cole and weather forecaster John Kubis took to the air Saturday morning to update viewers about conditions in the area.
You can watch their report in the video above.
Here are some key takeaways.
– Travel bans are in effect in all three counties. St. Lawrence County’s will be reevaluated around noon.
– States of emergency have been declared in St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties.
– Nearly 4,000 people were without power in Jefferson County, most of them along the St. Lawrence River in the towns of Cape Vincent, Clayton, Orleans, and Alexandria. There’s no word on when power will be restored. Crews are having difficulty getting out and repairing things safely.
– There were scattered outages, too, in St. Lawrence and Lewis counties.
– There are six warming shelters in Jefferson County for people who’ve lost power and have no heat.
– In St. Lawrence County, emergency services director Matt Denner tells 7 News that crews had to stop plowing overnight, because laws limit how much time they can spend on the road without rest. They were having trouble getting from their homes to town barns Saturday morning. He said many motorists were stranded and were being rescued by UTVs. Some roads had snow drifts between four and six feet.
– Joe Plummer, Denner’s counterpart in Jefferson County, tells us many roads are impassable and 75 to 100 cars are stuck and tow truck drivers were having a hard time removing them, making it difficult to plow the roads. Some snowplows have also gone off the road and gotten stuck.
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