By Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

 

The storm began late Thursday, Jan. 21 with the area waking up to a few inches of snow on Friday. Area schools and businesses were closed. Friday saw all-day snow, sleet and ice and by the end of Friday, five inches of snow had accumulated, according to the National Weather Service. Late Friday and early Saturday brought another 2.3 inches of snow to the area.

 

Polk County declared a state of emergency on Friday and opened a shelter at the Red Cross building in Columbus. The shelter was closed Saturday, but would have reopened if anyone was in need.

 

The snow, ice and sleet made travel in the area dangerous, particularly on Friday. I-26 was shut down for some of Friday morning and until later in the afternoon was backed up with traffic attempting to travel up the mountain towards Saluda, stranding vehicles for hours. Other roads in the Polk County and Landrum area were open and passable, but travel on Saturday and Sunday was still dangerous as only main roads were being scraped.

 

Area schools, including Polk County and District One schools were also closed on Monday, Jan. 25 because of the condition of secondary roads.

 

Although the area was expected to get up to ½ inch of ice during the storm, there was more snow and less ice, which kept the power on for the majority of residents in the area.