Kansas counties are recovering from record snowfall and preparing for more winter weather ahead
Last Sunday, Saline County got hit with over 13 inches of snow, while Sedgwick County saw about nine inches from Sunday to Thursday. Thankfully, things are starting to clear up, and they’re getting ready for whatever winter throws at them next.
The snow is melting, and the highways are looking good again. Ashley Perez from the North Central Kansas Department of Transportation mentioned they’re busy cleaning up their equipment to be ready for the next storm.
After the storm, they put in hundreds of hours of overtime and used tons of salt. Lynn Packer, the Sedgwick County Public Works director, said they ran out of their salt and sand mix and used up half of their brine mixture.
The response teams faced some unique challenges this time around. Melissa McCoy, a public information officer in Saline County, noted they got 13 inches of snow in just 24 hours, which hasn’t happened in 63 years.
Once the second storm hit on Thursday night, all the trucks were out the next day. They’re treating these obstacles as lessons learned. Packer mentioned they might have started operations an hour earlier if they could do it again.
They’re making sure to always be ready, pretreating roads when possible, and having teams on standby. McCoy summed it up well: “This is Kansas, and we have weather here.”
Now, they’re restocking and gearing up for the next round. This January is already the snowiest for Sedgwick County since 2007, and Saline County hasn’t seen snowfall like this in over 60 years. Emergency management is also advising drivers to prepare emergency kits that can last for 72 hours.
