Digging Out From 13 Inches Of Snow

(Le Mars) — People are trying to dig themselves out of the 13 inch snow that fell on Le Mars on Groundhog’s Day. State and county road crews have been clearing the highways, and Le Mars Public Works city crews were removing the snow and hauling it away from Plymouth Street this morning.  Several schools, including Le Mars Community and Gehlen Catholic, decided to take a second day of snow vacation, as many streets and rural roads had not yet been cleared at the time classes were to begin.  As of 11:00 a.m. this morning, the Iowa Department of Transportation is still classifying State Highway 3 between Le Mars and Akron as being impassable. The Iowa D-O-T is still saying the stretch of highway is having a critical disruption. The Iowa transportation department has dispatched a large snow blower to the area.  Plymouth County Sheriff’s deputy Paul Bettsworth was on Highway 3 and describes the scene.

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Bettsworth anticipates it will be awhile before D-O-T road crews have the entire highway cleared.

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As for the county roads, Bettsworth says crews from the Plymouth County Secondary Road Department are busy doing their best to clear the roads as quickly as possible.

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Tow bands continue to be in effect for Plymouth, Sioux, Lyon, Osceola, and O’Brien counties. Highways 3, 60, 12, 75, 20, 59, 71, 18 and 9 are still covered with snow and ice.

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Le Mars city crews clear Plymouth Street following the 13 inches of snow that fell on Groundhog’s Day.