(Spirit Lake)– Ice on trees and power lines have only been causing some isolated incidents so far, including one in Spirit Lake where a large tree brought down some power lines in the 300 block of 28th Street a little earlier this (Tues.) morning.
As far as roads go, main highways are pretty much just wet with a little slush. Dickinson County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Ehret says it’s a bit different though for city streets and secondary roads…
“Ice and slush is kind of the story on those roads, even the gravel roads, too. You know you get into that slush and if you’ve driven in it before you know it kind of pulls you all over the place, so just be really careful of that. City streets are slippery in places, too, so basically if you’ve got to go out and about this morning just take it real slow.”
Ehret says there could also still be some power outages as well…
“I know there’s been some, you know, power bumps here and there, just real brief outages and then it comes back on real quick. But with the ice that’s on some of these lines and the wind we’re going to have today I wouldn’t be surprised if we continue to have that sort of thing throughout the day.”
He adds that if you do see a power line down, to stay clear of it…
“If a power line is down always assume that it’s live. If it’s across the road don’t drive over it, turn around and go the other way. If there’s no one there we do ask that you please call it in so we can get somebody out there to block the road until the utility crews can arrive. As always assume a downed power line is live and even downed tree branches, make sure before you go and move them that there isn’t a wire tangled up in there some where.”
Ehret says hopefully the temperature will get above freezing as the morning progresses.
