PHOTO: MHP
BATESVILLE, Miss.–Icy roads may have been the cause of a few accidents overnight in the Batesville area on I-55. The interstate and plenty of state highways, roads, bridges and overpasses are iced over and you are being asked to st5ay off the roads unless travel is absolutely necessary.
Conditions may not improve until mid-morning, said Warren Strain, spokesperson for the Miss. Highway Patrol. Strain said he checked with Highway Patrol offices in the north half of Mississippi early Tuesday and that road conditions were not too safe.
“Extreme caution is advised. All across the northern half of Mississippi the bridges and overpasses remain iced over,” he told News Mississippi. “We’re suggesting you delay travel until mid-morning and get an update.”
Strain said traffic was light overnight and that meant for a light night as far as accidents, and the Highway Patrol would like to make sure people stay safe.
At a MEMA press conference Monday afternoon, Miss. Emergency Management Dir. Robert Latham had the same advice.
“One of the things that happened in the last event, for some reason there were significantly less accidents and I think it was because people stayed off the roads, because we kept talking about it.”
He said to make sure you know what’s going on, and share that info with friends and neighbors. Don’t clog the roads i an icy situation so emergency vehicles can get where they need to go.
Gov. Bryant said that troopers have been working 12-hour shifts in the affected areas.
More winter weather is expected Wednesday. You can hear what MEMA and the governor advise you to do by listening to this press conference. In short, you need to make sure you have a good way to stay warm, even without power, make sure you have food, flashlights and batteries and that your meds are up-to-date and that you have enough.
