PAW PAW, Mich. (AP) - A second snow storm is as many days was churning toward western Michigan on Saturday, threatening a region where snow-covered roadways were already stranding motorists and prompting travel warnings.
Another inch or so of snow could fall Sunday in and around Grand Rapids beginning, National Weather Service meteorologist Jared Maples said. That would follow the 8 to 10 inches that fell overnight Saturday and left roads difficult to navigate.
Motorists in Van Buren County were asked early Saturday morning not to drive.
“Many back roads are becoming impassable due to drifting snow,” Van Buren County sheriff’s Lt. Bob Kirk said in a news release. “Wreckers are unable to get to vehicles due to the current conditions. If you come across roads that appear to be blown over do not attempt to drive on them to avoid the chance of being stranded.”
The Cass County Road Commission also asked people to stay home until crews were able to plow.
In Kent County, some drivers simply left vehicles where they stopped.
“People ended up getting hung up overnight and just ditched the car and got a ride,” county road commission maintenance director Jerry Byrne told MLive.com. “If a car is stuck in the road, we sometimes can’t get by it. We’re just bypassing those sections and hoping people come back and get them out.”
In Grand Rapids, city plow trucks fought the snow and wind.
“The city is struggling to keep up with the storm,” city manager Greg Sundstrom said in a statement. “The city is asking everyone to be patient until the streets are cleared.”
Snowfall was lighter in the Lansing and Detroit areas, but road surfaces still were slick.
A crash involving nine cars west of Detroit in Washtenaw County left five people injured, including one critically. Firefighters had to cut one person from a car that slid beneath a semitrailer Saturday morning at Interstate 94 and U.S. 23 in Pittsfield Township, according to the Ann Arbor News. The 9:30 a.m. crash was one of 15 involving multiple vehicles in the township.
Two people also were hurt during white-out conditions in crashes on Interstate 69 in Eaton County’s Windsor Township, the Lansing State Journal reported.
The Michigan Department of Transportation on Saturday reopened a stretch of U.S. 2 near St. Ignace in the Upper Peninsula’s Mackinac County after crews plowed away heavy snow and drifts.
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