Icy roads blamed in 2 western Kansas deaths
Wichita ? Freezing rain and strong winds have moved into Kansas, causing power outages and several accidents, including two fatal crashes on Thanksgiving.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for large parts of southern, central and eastern Kansas through early Saturday. The weather service forecast up to a quarter inch of sleet and ice in some area by Friday night, and wind gusts of up to 30 miles per hour.
Two traffic fatalities on Thursday have been attributed to the icy road conditions in western Kansas, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. The first fatality occurred in Hodgeman County when a car ran off an icy road, hit a ditch and rolled. Another person also died Thursday near Holcomb when he was ejected from a pickup that hit some ice, rolled and hit a car.
The Kansas Department of Transportation reported icy conditions on scores of roads from Liberal in southwest Kansas up past Manhattan in northeast Kansas on Friday. The Kansas Turnpike Authority said several accidents were reported along Interstate 70 east of Lawrence on Friday.
Several accidents also reported in the Wichita area early Friday. In Topeka, because of the spike in accidents, police said officers would respond only to accident calls that involved injuries, disabled vehicles, hit-and-runs or driving under the influence.
There were no immediate reports of serious injuries among the accidents. A Shawnee County Emergency Communications Center dispatcher told The Topeka Capital-Journal the precipitation was more of a problem on bridges than on streets.
Westar Energy also reported about 4,500 customers were affected by power outages Friday in the Wichita area.