Snow causes accidents, outages
It was a snowy morning in Waynesburg as the temperature registered 21 degrees.
Snow clings to the trees over the Waynesburg University parking lot at Washington and Franklin streets in Waynesburg.
Dave Stoneking of Mark IV Office Supply & Printing shovels snow in front of the store Thursday.
Traffic moves on a snow-covered High Street in Waynesburg early Thursday morning.
As much as nine inches of snow fell in Greene County overnight Wednesday into early Thursday, leading to multiple accidents, including one involving a truck landing in Ten Mile Creek.
The single-vehicle accident occurred shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday in Clarksville Borough. The truck, traveling north on Webster Avenue, went across the oncoming lane of traffic before dropping roughly 125 feet into Ten Mile Creek, according to Greene County Emergency Management Director Greg Leathers.
A passing motorist spotted tracks in the snow leading over the embankment and alerted authorities.
The names of the driver and two passengers were not available. The truck landed upright in the creek. Firefighters rappelled down the hill to bring them to safety. None of the occupants was injured.
Clarksville, Jefferson and East Bethlehem Township firefighters responded along with state police and EMS Southwest Inc.
Cumberland Township Supervisor Bill Groves said the “seven to eight inches of snow” in his area was responsible for some minor problems. A tree on Old Waynesburg Road fell across power lines, knocking out power and Internet service to residents for several hours.
“We had a little problem with the (plow) truck last night up in the area of the south branch of Muddy Creek,” Groves said. “He was backing up when the road gave way along the edge, and the truck rolled on its side. He was only going about 3 mph.”
Power outages, like the one on Old Waynesburg Road, were sporadic throughout Greene County Wednesday evening and Thursday. At one point, West Penn Power reported close to 500 homes without power.
Among them was the Whiteley Township residence of Rebecca Morris.
“It went out around 1 a.m. (Thursday), and it was back on shortly after 1 p.m. I’m just grateful to have it back on,” Morris said. “It was a little rough, but nothing compared to 2010, when we lost power for eight days and had to go live with my mom.”
Greene Township Supervisor Keith Golden said the township would be putting down a heavy layer of ash on the roads in preparation for cold temperatures returning late Thursday and Friday.
“With the low temperatures, the salt isn’t working. We are doing the best we can right now. We are going to ash real heavily on the bends and hills,” he said. “People just need to drive slowly. It’s bad.”