Ilion High School - Class of 1971

Herkimer Evening Telegram - March 5, 1971

Digging Out Time After One Of Worst Blizzards

Article 5

Source pdf file is here Herkimer NY Evening Telegram 1971 00754.pdf on fultonhistory.com

Herkimer Evening Telegram - Digging Out Time After One Of Worst Blizzards - 1971

Digging Out Time After One Of Worst Blizzards

Under sunny skies today, Herkimer County began digging itself out from under one of the worst blizzards in the memory of local residents.

Several state highways and most secondary roads remained closed, either because of snow accumulation, blowing and drifting snow or countless abandoned vehicles.

Schools, public offices and most private businesses and industries closed yesterday as a two-foot snowfall, made worse by high winds and drifting, paralyzed the state. All the county, as well other institutions, closed today.

While some state are open, State Police said driving is still hazardous because high winds are reducing visibility and causing drifting in some places.

Herkimer Evening Telegram - Main St. in Mohawk Blizzard - 1971

Photo caption - Main St. in Mohawk ... all valley villages faced the same problems, too much snow and not enough equipment. But given another day. everything will be moving again. It will take some time to clear all the side streets, however. Dave Cave Photo.

Road Conditions

East Herkimer State Police gave this report of road conditions in Herkimer County:

Route 5, open and passable; new Route 5-S, had been opened but has been closed to allow tow trucks to remove the numerous abandoned vehicles left on the road by stranded motorists; Route 28 south, plugged by snow ; Route 28 north, passable; Route 8, closed to the Hamilton County line; Rte. 51 (Ilion Gorge), plugged by numerous snowslides.

Most secondary roads remain closed.

Snowmobilers throughout the area performed volunteer rescue work, rescuing stranded motorists and delivering food and other necessities to families isolated by the storm. A convoy of snowmobiles reportedly rescued several motorists who were trapped on Vickerman Hill.

Several expectant mothers had to be rushed to hospitals during the storm and, in at least some cases, plows had to rescue the ambulance.

Around The Clock

In Herkimer, village crews worked around the clock, battling to keep ahead of the snow accumulation. Mayor Donald Reile said this morning that he, trustee Anthony D'Arpino, street superintendent Zenon Czarnecki and other village officials were out all night, directing snow removal operations.

Mayor Reile said:

"We have cleared out two locations on Route 5 and Route 28 where snow can be dumped. The hospital road and all emergency exits have been cleared and we feel that by nightfall, all routes and roads will be passable. Village crews will concentrate on snow removal, so streets can be widened and made more accessible.

Under continuous hard use, several pieces of village equipment were disabled. Mayor Reile donated the services of a bulldozer and two bucket loaders for snow removal work and trucks have been rented from private contractors.

Teen-agers Help

Mrs. Charlotte Szarejko, director of nurses at Herkimer Memorial Hospital, expressed thanks to all who assisted in getting nurses and other hospital personnel to and from the job last night, including police, area snowmobilers and others.

She said the village plows kept the hospital hill open and teenagers assisted by digging out nurses' cars.

Things were bad enough in town and worse in the country. Mrs. Duane Aney, Paines Hollow, said the drifts this morning completely blocked their first floor windows, and one drift between their house and the next was up to the roofs.

With their milk tank full, milk will now have to be dumped, she said, so it was decided to skim the cream today and she planned to make a big batch of ice-cream for freezer storage.

Everyone in the area is well supplied with food and fuel, she said, but members of the family with snowmobiles and other snowmobile owners in the vicinity have been out checking the neighborhood to see that no one has emergency needs.

'Not This Year'

"I never saw a winter like this," Mrs. Aney commented. "I usually count on picking a bouquet of daffodils on April 1, but not this year.

While yesterday's blizzard was walloping traffic to a standstill, officials in the villages of Ilion, Mohawk, and Frankfort reported many cases of rescues of stranded persons, particularly by volunteer snowmobilers, as every other means of transportation came to a virtual halt, except for snow removal equipment.

Ilion Mayor James Garnsey, Mohawk Mayor Linn Eldred, and Frankfort Mayor Joseph Reina all declared a state of snow emergency to clear the streets of cars to allow street crews a chance to battle the drifting, blowing snow.

Mayor Garnsey, faced with the sudden snow emergency on his second day in office after bring elected Tuesday, said he was impressed by the "good job" the streets department was doing.

Cars On Street

"We are still concerned about cars left on the streets, and we hope drivers will cooperate either by getting their cars off the streets, or by not driving," the mayor said. He said the streets department said a stranded small foreign car was almost hit by a plow yesterday.

Meanwhile, the streets department has been granted permission to tow cars away where they are blocking snow removal equipment.

Crews are working on an around the clock basis, with some working while others are off, and thus far the plows and other equipment have been holding up without major breakdowns, the mayor added.

Ilion police answered 43 phone calls in a six hour period starting at 3 p.m. yesterday.

Volunteer snowmobilers aided police by transporting medicines from drug stores for sick shutins. Several firemen also used their snowmobiles for such emergencies.

Herkimer Evening Telegram - volunteer snowmobilers in handling emergency situations - 1971

Photo caption - ILION POLICE got an assist from volunteer snowmobilers tn handling emergency situations during yesterday's blinding snowstorm. Ready to take off near police headquarters are snowmobilers Jack Day, left, and Leonard Hendrix, shown with Patrolman Alfred Seymour. One of their emergency chore was to report to Mohawk Valley General Hospital in Ilion to take home the nurses.

Transport Nurses

The snowmobilers transported nurses home from the 11 p.m. shift yesterday at Mohawk Valley General Hospital, and aided stranded motorists, police said.

Police said Charles Miller, 45 Second Ave., put up five stranded Canadian boys, all students, when they were unable to find overnight accommodations.

A dozen snowmobilers pitched in to remove three feet of snow from the roof of a large pavilion alongside the Big Pine Inn, according to Gertrude Perten, proprietor. She said the roof was beginning to crack.

A group of Ilion snowmobilers went into Ilion Gorge when Route 51 became clogged with snow, and rescued stranded motorists.

In Mohawk, Mayor Linn Eldred said the streets department was working on an around-the-clock split shift. Thus far, the equipment has been holding up well, except for the grader which broke down during the day.

Photo caption - ILION POLICE got an assist from volunteer snowmobilers in handling emergency situations during yesterday's blinding snowstorm. Ready to take off near police headquarters are snowmobilers Jack Day, left, and Leonard Hendrix, shown with Patrolman Alfred Seymour. One of their emergency chore was to report to Mohawk Valley General Hospital in Ilion to take home the nurses.

Emergency Center

An emergency center was established at police headquarters during the day. The mayor praised the cooperation of firemen and the local snowmobile club, which had several snowmobiles on call at the fire station.

While lauding the volunteer snowmobilers, Mayor Eldred noted that the few snowmobilers who were only "joy riding' on the streets were breaking the law.

"The humanity of people expressed itself many times yeserday," Mayor Eldred noted. "We had people call up, offering rooms for stranded persons." Meanwhile, there were many cases of volunteers, mostly with snowmobiles, doing good deeds.

In Frankfort, Major Joseph Reina said the snow emergency brought trouble at the intake valve from Moyer Creek to the reservoir, which became clogged with ice. A couple of the streets department crew have been trying to keep the intake clear.

Possibility Of Flood

"We've notified the state about the possibility of a flood if the ice freezes," he added. He said ice is flowing in the creek, but could pose a danger where it crosses Main St. if the floes freeze.

The police department is using snowmobiles and volunteer snowmobilers participated in rescuing stranded motorists yesterday.

No breakdowns of plows and other snow removal equipment has occurred as yet, the mayor said. He said the men are being rotated so that the equipment is being used around-the-clock.

Herkimer Evening Telegram - volunteer snowmobilers in handling emergency situations - 1971

Photo caption - That word "CLOSED' tells the story of area businesses yesterday and today. This sign is in door of N.Y. State Employment Service office in Herkimer. Everyone gave up early Thursday afternoon and went home and offices and business firms were closed again today.

Schools Closed

All schools in the area were closed today for the second day.

All east-west roads and all North-south roads, 5 and 5S, are open, but visibility is poor in spots and much drifting is occurring. Parts of the Thruway have been reopened, but none of the portion through Central New York.

Central New York Coach Lines buses from Utica to Little Falls are not operating.

Grifiss Air Force Base at Rome is on Sunday hours. Most factories are closed, including MDS, UNIVAC and Remington Arms at Ilion.

Herkimer County Community College, Mohawk Valley Community College at Utica and Utica College are closed.

Four or five trucks were halted today at the Herkimer Thruway Interchange while their drivers stayed at hotels and motels in the village.

Thruway officials said both the Indian Castle and Schuyler Service Centers were crowded with stranded travelers.

Douglas Butler, Herkimer manager for New York Telephone Co., reported a large volume of calls were handled during the blizzard yesterday but equipment held up under the heavy load.

Repairmen are behind in service orders but customers had been contacted and work will be completed as soon as possible.

The Ilion Fire Department to day reported 25 volunteer firemen are digging out fire hydrants in the village and Fire Chief Richard Wright has asked residents to also clear around hydrants near their property.

The entire force of firemen have been on duty since yesterday morning. No fire calls were reported and there were two ambulance calls.

The Ilion Police Department had a total of 128 calls since the storm began, up to 10 this morning. They also handled an additional 58 calls for the Frankfort and Mohawk Police Depts.

No personal injury accidents were reported and very few fender benders. Chief Maurice Goldin said the situation is improving and the department is operating on a regular shift basis.

In Ilion and Mohawk and Frankfort, the snow emergency still that kept exists, and officials state cars will still have to be off village streets.

A report from the Herkimer, Ilion, Mohawk and Frankfort Post Offices showed little mail delivered yesterday and no deliveries attempted today. Because of Route 5 and 5 S being blocked from Utica, mail from that point was unable to reach valley post offices. The lobbies of all post offices have remained open and deliveries will be made tomorrow if weather conditions continue to improve.

Created and maintained by Aileen Carney Sweeney - Class of 1974