A number of downed trees countywide also posed a challenge; many fell across the road and blocked traffic or hit power lines, causing outages.
“It was ugly this morning,” Snaza said about the weather, adding that it was worse than Wednesday because of the freezing rain that fell Thursday morning. He urged drivers to remain cautious even if they have four-wheel drive because “it takes just as long to stop on ice.”
Snaza and Braniff’s tour wound through Olympia and Tumwater, then headed south to Grand Mound before turning east to Tenino, Rainier and Yelm. They then headed back to Olympia via Lacey.
Here’s what they encountered along the way:
- A downed tree that blocked traffic in the 1500 block of Fones Road in Olympia.
- A car stuck in the snow at Hoffman and Morse-Merryman roads that Braniff helped push clear.
- A car crash on southbound Interstate 5, near 113th Avenue Southwest, in which it appeared the car had struck the guardrail before coming to a halt.
- Several power outages and downed trees along Old Highway 99.
- A tree in the 400 block of H Street in Tenino that fell and damaged a mobile home.
- Widespread power outages in Yelm.
- Several downed trees at Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment.
- Long lines for gasoline at a station next to the Red Wind Casino in the Nisqually area. Car lines likely formed because power was out in the area, preventing several stations from pumping gas. Snaza and Braniff checked with one driver who had pulled off the road and learned that she had run out of gasoline while searching for gas.
- A tree that fell onto a car on Marvin Road near Martin Way.
State Route 507 between Tenino and Rainier also was hit hard by ice and snow. Several downed trees lined the highway; some fell completely across it. At one point, Snaza and Braniff stopped to assist others to clear downed tree debris so traffic could start moving again.
Braniff, who also spent 25 years with the Washington State Patrol, reminded drivers to be prepared for the weather and to think carefully about their route beforehand.
If you have to travel, bring blankets and tire chains and prepare for the unexpected, whether it’s snow, slush, downed trees or other drivers, he said.
“If you don’t have to be anywhere, stay home,” Braniff said.
Snaza recommended that drivers make sure snow is cleared from the tops of their vehicles. Vehicles piled high with snow create visibility issues for other drivers, he said.
Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403
rboone@theolympian.com
www.theolympian.com/bizblog
