In emails, storms too swift for state

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department and other agencies struggled to react to rapidly deteriorating weather conditions that ground traffic to a halt on interstates in east Arkansas on March 2 and the days that followed, according to emails the agency released Monday.

Officials from the agency and the Arkansas State Police have been summoned before lawmakers today to discuss their responses to the storm and the “ significant highway problems that occurred during the most recent ice storm,” according to a letter from lawmakers requesting their appearance. The Arkansas Highway Commission also will meet later today to discuss storm response.

The decision to hold the hearing came after Gov. Mike Beebe chastised the department for its “unacceptable” response to the storm. Drivers were stranded on Interstate 40 near Forrest City, and on Interstate 55 between Blytheville and the Missouri line March 3 and into March 4, after dozens of trucks jackknifed in areas that had lanes closed for construction even before the icy weather.

Beebe and lawmakers also referred to reports and photos provided by motorists that compared the conditions of Arkansas’ post-storm roads with those in Missouri. Several photos posted online showed that road conditions improved greatly the moment drivers crossed from Arkansas into Missouri.

Department officials worked throughout the weekend and into Monday night amassing data in preparation for the meeting. Among other things, they expect to tell lawmakers that the winter snow and ice removal is expected to cost the department $18 million in equipment, personnel and material in the fiscal year that began July 1. The figure is three times what the department typically spends, said Randy Ort, an agency spokesman.

The department may have an ally in the National Weather Service, which described the storm as occurring at the “wrong place, wrong time.”

“At the National Weather Service in North Little Rock, one forecaster with almost four decades of experience mentioned that he had never witnessed this much sleet [several inches] over such a large area,” the agency said in an after-action report posted on its website.

That included 6 inches of sleet at Osceola in Mississippi County, where backups on I-55 affected traffic in Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee, according to the National Weather Service office in Memphis.

“Traffic was slowed by ongoing road construction, particularly around Forrest City (St. Francis County),” the agency’s North Little Rock office reported. “Throw in the ice and a long-term subfreezing environment, and the problem got far worse. With vehicles at a standstill, it was difficult for road crews to treat the pavement.”

The e-mails, requested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and other news organizations, highlighted the problem.

In the days leading up to the storm, weather forecasters predicted no more than 1 to 2 inches of precipitation, with some areas receiving 3 inches. Still, their forecast distributed by email on Friday morning to the Highway Department warned that “make no mistake - there is going to be a significant area of hazardous driving conditions in Arkansas with this weather system.”

Armed with that information, department officials conducted a teleconference call on Friday afternoon to make final preparations for the storm. The meeting included direction on whether to pre-treat some roads, which was done in the case of I-40 and I-55, but wasn’t effective because of the rain that preceded the snow, ice and sleet, Ort said.

“Troop C of the Arkansas State Police, which patrols Mississippi County and other parts of northeast Arkansas, was at ground zero, periodically issuing road condition updates to state highway officials and others.”

The updates began benignly on the morning of March 2.

“Jonesboro at 32 degrees and rain,” its first emergency weather email, issued at 9:13 a.m., began. “No travel problems reported.”

By that afternoon, the emails sounded ominous.

“Roadways are icy and very [hazardous] … working multiple wrecks in Craighead County,” read an email sent at 3:46 p.m. “And one in Mississippi County on I-55.”

Shortly before 11 p.m., the troop reported “I-55 in Mississippi County is getting worse, very deep sleet and ice … Most tow trucks are not even able to move on this sleet.”

At 1:51 a.m. on March 3, the troop sent an email saying that I-55 was “covered in several inches of sleet, very dangerous conditions, the hwy dept plows are even having trouble moving.”

By that morning, I-55 southbound was shut down at mile marker 49, a mile north of Osceola.

Troop D, which is based in Forrest City and includes I-40 among its patrolling duties, picked up where Troop C left off March 3.

“I-40 and Hwy 70 in St. Francis and Crittenden counties are hazardous … working multiple accidents,” the troop said in an email sent at 8:09 p.m.

By the early morning of March 4, some order was restored momentarily.

“I-55 in Mississippi County [southbound] is moving from the 55 [mile marker], they are still getting the truckers woke up north of there to get them going,” Troop C said in a 1:36 a.m. email.

But less than two hours later, a big truck broke down at Osceola, where I-55 is down to one lane because of construction. At 3:36 a.m., all of I-55 southbound was shut down to allow a wrecker to reach the truck and remove it.

Traffic southbound was shut down again just north of Osceola when another truck jackknifed. “We are out of wreckers but do have one coming from Jonesboro to assist,” Troop C said in an email at 4:36 a.m. March 3.

By the next day, Tennessee highway officials told their Arkansas counterparts they would put messages on their electronic billboards to expect lengthy delays on I-40 and I-55 in Arkansas. Missouri highway officials soon began alerting motorists in St. Louis headed south to expect the delays.

Also according to the emails, Missouri and Tennessee highway officials struggled with the traffic backups in Arkansas. Missouri officials directed southbound traffic on I-55 at Hayti east on I-155 across the Mississippi to Tennessee. But trucks became stuck on a hill on I-155 in Tennessee, causing another backup for several hours that prompted officials to send in the Tennessee Army National Guard as a precaution.

Missouri also was exploring sheltering options on March 4.

“We have I-55 SB and I-155 EB closed now so all traffic is forced back north or west in MO,” one Missouri official wrote. “Apparently the truck stops are full in Hayti and there is a problem with parking trucks and cars in the area.”

Arkansas highway officials tried to mobilize reinforcements for I-40, but by the time they were ready on the afternoon of March 4, things were beginning to clear up, at least on I-40, according to the emails.

Ray Woodruff, the state Highway Department district engineer based in Wynne, wrote in an email that one of his deputies has “looked at I-40 west of Forrest City and has determined that we do not need any assistance.He says we can plow off what little bit of ice/slush that is left with one pass.”

But Ort said crews from Little Rock were dispatched to West Memphis and from Batesville to Osceola.

Meanwhile, local officials and some Arkansas residents sent in their own complaints about why their roads weren’t getting the attention they thought they deserved from the department.

Steve Lawrence, the resident engineer for the department based in Harrison, fielded complaints about Arkansas 201 and other state highways in Baxter County, with one correspondent telling him that “Beebe has a right to be hot” at the department.

As for Arkansas 201, online social media circulated a photograph showing ice and snow on the Arkansas side of the border but clear highway in Missouri.

On the night of March 4, Lawrence told one correspondent in an email copied to state Sen. Johnny Key, R-Mountain Home, and other officials that his agency, given the best use of its limited resources, “work our highway routes … according to the traffic volumes on each route. While Highway 201 North is a significant route … its average daily traffic count is approximately 2,000 vehicles per day.

Other routes that received attention before Arkansas 201, included U.S. 62, which has traffic ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 vehicles daily, and Arkansas 5, which has 8,000 vehicles per day.

“Those routes receive our highest attention during the initial stages of a weather event since they are the main connecting routes in Baxter County,” Lawrence wrote.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 03/11/2014

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