Allison takes toll on roads, drivers

BROWN COUNTY - Blizzard Allison brought blowing snow and poor visibility.

“You can't see. The snow is blowing it's a white out and sometimes you can't see your hood. That's what makes it really dangerous,” said truck driver Bill Bondi.

Everything you would expect from a major snow storm was there: Slippery roads, accidents and stuck cars.

“They're either hitting the ditch or another vehicle - unfortunately 2 of our squads already this morning. One of our officers is injured. We just need folks to be patient and slow down,” said Captain Randy Schultz with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department.

According to Brown County Emergency Management officials, by 2 pm Wednesday law enforcement had responded to more than 200 crashes and stuck vehicles.

Of those, 28 were in the city of Green Bay since midnight according to police.

County and city plows spent the day clearing the roads and highways.

“We will plow all-it's about 480 miles of streets we have that includes residential streets,” said Chris Pirlot with Green Bay Public Works.

Pirlot said plows hit the streets at 3 am for cleanup.

110 units are needed for the job. It normally takes 10 hours.

“Today, it's taking a little longer because we have the slipperiness it's wet snow so it's slippery underneath so even some of our trucks have had problems getting traction,” said Pirlot.

Pirlot said the major clean up work will be done by dinner time, easily using 1000 tons of salt.

Meanwhile, a snow emergency is in effect in Green Bay until 9 am Thursday, meaning no one can park on city streets so plows can get through.

With equipment, resources and personnel taxed, emergency management officials worked with local municipalities to coordinate disaster declarations.

“With an event of this magnitude-that's record or near record snowfall-there is a potential for us to get some funding,” said Director Cullen Peltier.

And as the snow raged on, Peltier said opening the county's emergency operations center--remained a possibility.

“We're in discussions about opening up the center, but we haven't done that yet because we haven't had any major events at this point,” said Peltier.

A Brown County official say the sheriff’s deputy involved in the crash was checked at an area hospital and released, but remains stiff and sore.

Blizzard Allison affected air travel as well.

Around 1 pm, Austin Straubel Airport Director Tom Miller said most planes weren't able to take off or land due to visibility problems.

That meant cancellations and delays for passengers.