February
This past week’s winter weather engulfed the surrounding areas with a layer of snow, sleet and ice, meaning more caution was necessary for Guthrie residents when out and about.
Logan County Emergency Management Director, Steven Haga, said the county did not have any calls for motorist’s assistance on Thursday.
For future reference, Haga had some tips for those traveling in similar conditions.
“Keep food, snacks, drinks and extra set of blankets in the car in case you get stranded,” Haga said. “It could be a while before a tow truck gets out there to you.”
Haga also said to check on neighbors and keep pets inside.
During this past week’s storm, Haga said several deputies stayed out later than normal to help stranded motorists. The County Commissioners came out and helped sand the roads when the community started to have issues with the weather.
Hope House Guthrie, the only shelter in the City of Guthrie, coped well with the snow and temperature conditions.
Orvill Myers, who runs the Hope House, said on Thursday the Hope House only had one or two calls seeking emergency shelter since the weather conditions dropped. Myers estimated the Hope House had a dozen beds available for those in need of shelter during the storm.
“There’s room there and we have crates for the dogs and cats,” Myers said. “The city was good enough to loan us some crates for people who might show up with their pets.”
For those ever seeking shelter from harsh conditions outside, Myers said the Hope House will accommodate them.
“If they can get there, we will certainly accommodate them,” Myers said. “It doesn’t matter how many show up. We’ll find a way. The city and our Logan County Sheriff and our Guthrie Police Department have volunteered, as always, to provide transportation if need be.”
Visit Hopehouseguthrie.org and donate to help support the Hope House. The building is located at 1916 E. Perkins.
Guthrie Public Works Director, Tenny Maker, provided an update on the total materials the City of Guthrie used during the storm.
“As of Friday, Feb. 2, we had used a total 163 ton of sand/ salt mix on Priority one and two roadways,” Maker said. “Wednesday (had) 96 tons, Thursday (had) 14 tons and 53 tons was spread on Friday. An estimated 44 working hours was spent in the three-day period. This includes hours of plowing and sanding along with maintenance on equipment between and during storms.”
Maker said all equipment is currently holding up with some minor maintenance required.
Those 44 working hours included Thursday’s scenario where he said crews ran until about 2 a.m. Thursday and started up again at 6 a.m.
Crews at that time were directing all their focus to priority one routes.
Materials were fully stocked in town prior to the storm. Maker said the dry snow helped with the traction and helped the crews to not have as much ice to deal with.
A special thanks to the City of Guthrie Street Department and Parks Department for their work clearing snow off roads and sidewalks for the public facilities during the storm.