Staff writer
Despite several inches of snowfall and stiff winds on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Marion County residents stayed safe on roads.
Marion County Sheriff Rob Craft said that there were only a few weather-related accidents during the holiday.
“One or two,” he said. “Nothing serious.”
Hillsboro Police Chief Dan Kinning said that there were no accidents in Hillsboro.
“(The snow) really didn’t create that much of a problem,” he said. “The streets were really well cleared. People were ready; it’s the ones that sneak up on people while they’re at work that cause problems.”
Peabody Police Chief Bruce Burke said that there were also no accidents in Peabody from the winter storm.
“We just didn’t get enough snow to have a problem,” he said. “They’re just now (on Monday) blading the streets from snow on Thursday.”
City workers started clearing the streets in Marion at 4 a.m. Christmas Day, public works director Harvey Sanders said. The snow plow drivers worked on Main Street between 4 and 6 a.m., took a break until 9 and then cleared the emergency routes to the hospital and side streets until 3:30 p.m. Christmas Day.
“We had a lot of blowing snow,” he said. “Some drifts were piled up to 3 feet in some places.”
Officials at the Marion Police Department said that there were no weather-related accidents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.