Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Residents receive 2-4 inches of snow

By Kris Harrell

Butler County received over 2 inches of snow this past week, as Winter Storm Enzo hit the area impacting the roads and local businesses. 

Prior to the snow, a meeting was held with municipal leaders on the week’s potential for snow potential for closures. The initial prediction for Butler County forecast around two to four inches of snow. 

“There was a lot that went into prior to the storm from everybody communicating with one another, it was really encouraging to see from my standpoint of how well we all worked together,” said Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Rosie Till “Overall, now that we’re on the outside of things, everyone did a wonderful job and kept everybody as safe as we could.” 

At around 10 a.m. on Jan. 21, precipitation began to fall throughout the county, blanketing buildings, grass and roads. Soon afterwards, all county roads, state and federal highways were deemed impassable due to the snow and ice on the roadways. 

Additionally, most businesses, schools, churches and civic organizations closed for Tuesday and Wednesday. Some remained closed on Thursday as the ice persisted in the freezing temperatures. 

“Butler County made the decision to deem roads impassable at 11:30 a.m. on that Tuesday when the snow started to accumulate,” Till said. “That wasn’t just an EMA decision, [our] engineer was literally sitting right beside me whenever we were all in a meeting together after the weather briefing, and he and I went with the commissioners and went ahead and made that decision together.”

During this time, law enforcement agencies responded to calls of accidents along the roadway. This includes the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), which responded to over 200 traffic crashes across the state where weather conditions were a factor. 

According to a press release from ALEA, one of these crashes was the multi-vehicle crash on U.S. Interstate Highway 65 in Butler County, with one reported death and two individuals injured. 

“We’re not used to snow in the south, so sometimes we are not prepared for snow here like they are in the north,” said Butler County Sheriff Danny Bond. “We do the best we can, all the agencies come together to work and make sure we get the job done at the end of the day,”  

Weather started to warm up and melt the ice and snow on Thursday, and ALEA posted an announcement that all roadways were passable on Jan 24.  

“Thank you to the Advocate, WSFA, WAKA, Q94 [and the Greenville Standard],” Till said. “We had a lot of support from our media, and we appreciate them. They get the word out for us when we need the public to know something that’s pertinent.”