Storm shut down county

Twenty-five years ago this week, Mother Nature brought a severe welcome to the new year.

The Jan. 3, 1996, edition of The Commercial Review featured a story about a winter storm that was called the most severe in at least a decade. Jay County was “a sea of snow drifts, jack-knifed semis and cancelations.”

The storm, which brought 9 inches of snow Jan. 2, resulted in schools being closed. Many businesses were shuttered as well.

And while most city streets were passable, rural travel was virtually impossible without a snowplow or snowmobile. Drifts in some areas were estimated to be as high as 10 feet. The county was under a snow emergency that was expected to stretch at least into the next day.

“We’ve got some 6-foot drifts. We might have 9-foot drifts, but they’re isolated,” said Jay County engineer Dan Watson. “We’ve got cars stuck in the middle of the road. … The wreckers are just swamped.”

Jay County Sheriff’s Office reported it had received 30 calls about stranded vehicles in a two-day period, with the biggest issues near the intersection of Indiana 67. Four semis were stuck at the intersection. Three had slid off the road while the fourth had a failed transmission.

“Our toughest problem right now is the majority of state roads are plugged with semis,” said Jay County Sheriff Kip Robinette. “I think it’s going to take us the biggest share of the day to get the semis pulled and the state roads cleared up.