Stranded in a Blizzard
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| Andrew Keller |
| 3/31/2009 |
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| Late Sunday night while a blizzard moved through, three Hebron residents were trapped inside their cars. A 9-1-1 call recording started off the long night. Dispatch: "You`re on Highway 10, two miles West of Hebron?" Amy Urlacher: "Yup" Dispatch: "And you`re stuck?" Urlacher: "I`m stuck." Amy Urlacher made a 9-1-1 call about 11:00 Sunday night after losing control of her vehicle and driving into a ditch. But hers wasn`t the only vehicle stranded. Urlacher: "My boyfriend and my daughter are stuck on the same road." Dispatch: "So you`re not the only one stuck." Urlacher: "No, I`m not." Dispatch: "Do you know where they are?" Urlacher: "Probably about three miles in front of me. I was actually going to see if I could go get them." A short time later, a sheriff`s deputy headed out to rescue the drivers, but just minutes after taking off, he too got stuck. "Situations like that, all kinds of things go through your mind, the most important thing to do is get these people and get them safe," says Clarence Tuhy, Stark County Sheriff. It took Stark County Road crews four hours to reach the deputy. And then the Sheriff`s Department had to make a tough decision. "They had plenty of gas in their cars, and they were in where they were safe and dry, and the blizzard conditions were so extreme that we decided maybe if they`re safe, rather than risking others to go out and get them, when day break come, that`s when we went out to get them," says Al Heiser, Stark County Road Supervisor. Glancing inside Urlacher`s boyfriend`s car, you see blankets along with water. There was also a banana on the other side so they had their survival kit prepared. "That`s why we stress in winter conditions stay with your vehicles. It might take a while before we get there, but at least you`re going to be out of the elements of wind, snow, temperatures, stuff like that," Tuhy says. "As far as I know they were in good health and the reunion with the mom and daughter was pretty good and I think it turned out to be a good success, and I hope people can learn when there`s no travel advised, that`s issued there for a reason, no travel," says Heiser. A happy ending to a scary situation. Both officials say the decision was made in part to mild temperatures. They say if it had been much colder, it would have been a different story. |
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