Retrospect: Blizzard buried Jay

There’s no snow on the ground now, but four decades ago there was so much that many may have thought it would stay until today.

Forty years ago this week, Jay County and most of northeast Indiana were trying to figure out what to do next after getting pummeled by the worst blizzard in the state’s history.

High winds and a heavy snowfall crippled Jay County for more than a week — it even halted the publishing of The Commercial Review for two days — as portions of the county saw snow drifts as high as 15 feet. 

President Jimmy Carter had declared a state of emergency for Indiana to trigger federal funds and aid from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but by Jan. 28, 1978, more than three days after the storm began, it was unclear how much would be available for Jay County.

Removal of the snow was a slow process as winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour created conditions of zero visibility.

Throughout Portland, motorists from Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky were stranded at places such as the Portland Armory, Jay County Jail, the state police post in Redkey and Terrace Lodge Motel north of Portland. 

To make a bad situation worse, an estimated 500 homes and businesses had been without water for more than a week leading up to the blizzard because an unusually high concentration of treatment chemicals was pumped into the system. Portland Fire Department was delivering water door-to-door before the storm hit.

Residents in Salamonia and the North Salem areas were also without power.

A Geneva man, Edgar Lough, suffered severe frostbite trying to walk home from work.