Story Created:
Dec 26, 2008 at 3:01 PM EST
Story Updated:
Dec 27, 2008 at 3:07 PM EST
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Freezing rain, hail and icy roads combined to make for treacherous driving across much of Indiana Friday, with at least seven people dying in crashes.
Road conditions were so bad that authorities closed numerous roads, including the entire Indiana Toll Road and Interstate 69 north of Fort Wayne, for several hours.
Roads remained icy in many areas as fog and overcast skies slowed melting, even though temperatures rose into the mid-30s and lower-40s in northern and central Indiana.
Two crashes near Lafayette killed four people, police said. Billy E. Johnson, 49, and his wife, Beth A. Johnson, 50, of Ladoga, died in a crash about 8:30 a.m. on U.S. 231 in southern Tippecanoe County when their SUV slid into a tree. The other deadly crash happened on Indiana 25 about 10 miles northeast of Lafayette. LeShawn D. Justice, 31, of Delphi, and Jayce Justice, 9, of Indianapolis, were pronounced dead at the scene.
An Indianapolis couple and a Kentucky woman died in a pair of crashes on icy Indiana 37 in the suburbs north of Indianapolis, which were among eight crashes on a stretch of the road near Noblesville that prompted authorities to shut it down for a time.
Philip Rieman, 64, and his wife, Louise Rieman, 63, died about 9 a.m. when their car spun out on ice and hit a tow truck. Jessica Lynch, 45, of Pine Knot, Ky., was killed in a four-car accident a short while later.
Meanwhile, a fire engine crashed head-on into a tree on the northwest side of Indianapolis, sending four firefighters to a hospital with minor injuries.
"They felt that they had good traction, the trucks are heavy, and just on any icy hill in this type of weather, where the temperature is right at 32 degrees, 33 degrees, sometimes we hit slick spots just like people do out there in their regular cars," said Rob Saunders, a division chief for the Pike Township Fire Department.
State police closed the full length of the Indiana Toll Road about 6:30 a.m. after more than 50 accidents were reported. State Trooper William Jones called the 157-mile highway "an entire sheet of ice" and urged drivers to stay off the highway even after it reopened.
Police also closed a 10-mile section of Interstate 69 just north of Fort Wayne because of numerous accidents.
Officials in Elkhart County, just east of South Bend, declared a travel emergency, saying that all motorists should stay off of roads.
The icy rain also caused about 1,800 homes and businesses on South Bend's north side to lose power for about three hours Friday morning, an Indiana Michigan Power spokesman said.
In Fort Wayne, where some homes have been without power since an ice storm last week, Indiana Michigan Power reported just 170 customers still without power as of Friday, down from a peak of more than 120,000 without service one week ago.
The National Weather Service said temperatures are expected to rise into the mid- to upper 50s on Saturday. Because of that, it has issued a flood watch in some northern Indiana areas as the forecast calls for perhaps 2 inches of rain along with a rapid melt of snow on the ground.
The weather service said that will lead to flooding of low lying areas and some basements, along with ponding of water on some roadways.
