ALEXANDRIA BAY, New York (WWNY) – The blizzard of ‘22: A snowstorm that will be remembered, if not in the history books, certainly in your own memory.
Parts of the North Country woke up to conditions they saw when they went to bed: Blowing, and drifting snow coupled with heavy snow, and that prompted travel bans to be posted, or extended, and states of emergency to be declared.
One hazard for road crews, abandoned vehicles on the sides of the roads.
Power outages were also a major concern Saturday morning in Jefferson County. Cape Vincent, Wellesley Island and Grindstone Island all spent time in the dark with no power.
The snow moved out of Watertown mid-morning Saturday, giving crews a chance to clean up. And boy the snow piles grew.
As Watertown was a bit clearer, the snow moved north of the city making Interstate 81 a miserable mess. At times, parts of it were closed off as visibility was virtually nothing and there were reports of cars and tractor trailers off the highway.
Jefferson County declared a state of emergency and a travel ban continues. To start the day, crews had to come to the rescue of people who got stuck overnight in their cars.
“Throughout this event, we had at least 150 if not more cars that became disabled on the roadways. Many people stayed in their vehicles overnight and rode it out. They tried to get a tow service, but the wrecker operators did they best they can but they needed to take a break and get some rest. Ya know we haven’t had this in many years, and a lot of ol’ timers you speak with say they haven’t seen something like this since the blizzard of ‘77,” said Joe Plummer, the Director of Jefferson County Fire and Emergency Management.
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