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Police and Highway Patrol both were busy yesterday as motorists slipped and slide on area roadways. The driver of the pickup above slide off the roadway about 2 miles east of Altus yesterday afternoon on State Highway 62. He was taken to the hospital, where he was treated and released. Another vehicle reportedly rolled over south of Duke. The vehicle at right was also traveling too fast for road conditions, left the road and hit a wall at Altus Air Force Base. Matthew Holmes of Altus was taken to JCMH with leg injuries. In total, there were seven minor accidents reports, 4 accidents with injuries, and one hit-and-run accident Tuesday.
with local reports
Although the winter storm that hit Oklahoma Monday has been blamed for at least two traffic deaths, local area motorist have been more lucky. Gov. Brad Henry however did declare a state of emergency for all 77 counties Monday and authorities urged residents to avoid getting out.
Among those killed was a 21-year-old Tulsa man, whose sport utility vehicle slid out of control on Interstate 44 in far northeastern Oklahoma and into the path of a semi. Renard J. Johnson Jr., died at the scene, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Near Chandler, a truck driver was killed when his semi skidded off the interstate, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority reported. The victim’s name wasn’t immediately released.
The National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning for nine counties in eastern Oklahoma until Wednesday morning. Much of central, southern and northeastern Oklahoma was under a winter storm warning through tonight.
Locally there were seven minor accidents reported by local police, four with injuries and one hit-and-run.
Ice was the cause of an accident on the south side of the downtown Altus square yesterday. Another vehicle was approaching the scene of the accident, and tried to stop for it. They slid and clipped six other cars parked in front of Dollar General. One of the vehicles had a person in it, but they were not injured.
“I was glad to hear that we didn’t have any more accidents than we did,” said Altus Police Chief Mike Patterson. “The best advice we can give people is to stay home unless it is absolutely necessary.”
Altus Schools, as well as all area schools and most schools statewide, were closed today. Locally, this included Western Oklahoma State College and Southwest Technology Center. Altus Air Force Base was also on a two-hour delay. The Altus Library didn’t open until noon today, and other facilities opened late as well.
The storm was expected to continue dropping frozen precipitation in various forms — freezing drizzle, freezing rain, sleet and snow — for much of the day, said Bruce Thoren, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norman.
Oh and BTW? Think all photos appearing could be in the same size? This would prevent your pages from jumping up and down.