Auto fatality, power outages blamed on wintry wallop
Toolbox
FROM STAFF, WIRE REPORTS - Published: November 26, 2008
A mix of snow and rain, with wind gusts reaching 50 mph in parts of the state, contributed to slippery road conditions and numerous accidents in a quick winter storm that also brought scattered power outages, mostly in southern Vermont.
At least one fatality, from an auto accident in Winhall near Stratton ski resort, is being blamed in part on the sloppy mix of winter conditions.
Some ski resorts around the state were hit with close to a foot of snow, most of which fell Monday night and Tuesday morning and sputtered off by midday as snow turned to rain. Stowe reported 5-7 inches and Sugarbush and Killington were reporting a foot of snow in the storm.
Slushy road conditions were also blamed for a traffic fatality in central Maine, where high winds along the coast had more of an impact, The strong winds and heavy snow downed tree limbs and knocked out power for more than 12,000 customers of Central Maine Power, said spokeswoman Gail Rice.Public Service of New Hampshire reported about 3,900 homes and businesses were without power in the early afternoon.
The weather made for tricky driving in Vermont, especially early in the day.
Police said Jacqueline Tiss, 19, of White Creek, N.Y., died after her 1997 Acura two-door sedan hit a pickup on Route 30 in Winhall around 8:50 a.m. Tuesday. Winhall Police Chief Jeffery Whitesell said roads were slippery at the time after an overnight snowfall had turned to rain and freezing rain during most of the morning.
Tiss, an employee of Stratton Mountain, apparently lost control of her car and spun out of control into the path of an oncoming pickup driven by Richard Chapman 47, of Florence. He was not injured in the crash, but police believe Tiss was killed on impact. A three-vehicle accident on the Sherburne Pass slowed traffic late in the morning on Route 4 and caused police to temporarily close the mountain road to tractor-trailers for about 20 minutes while the vehicles were removed.
Vermont State Police said the accident occurred around 10:30 a.m. when Mary Cruty-Porter, 54, of Winchester, Mass., lost control of her vehicle traveling east and collided with the guardrail, coming to a rest on the east side of the road, heading down the mountain.
Moments later, tractor-trailer operator Guy Bechard, 24, of Hatley, Quebec, collided with Cruty-Porter's car after a failed attempt to stop - pinning Cruty-Porter's vehicle between the tractor-trailer and the guardrail, police said.
A third vehicle, driven by Jessica Smith, 26, of Montpelier, then crashed into the trailer, police said.
Police had to help Cruty-Porter and her 10-year-old daughter from the vehicle through the passenger-side window and guided all tractor-trailers traveling east to pull into the Home Depot parking lot until the vehicles were moved.
None of the occupants involved were injured, although both cars suffered moderate damage, police said.
Earlier in the morning four separate accidents occurred on Interstate 91 northbound, forcing police to close the passing lane for much of the day.
Police said three passenger vehicles and one tractor-trailer crashed near the Williams Street Bridge at Exit 2 in Brattleboro around 7 a.m.
Vermont State Police, the Brattleboro Fire Department and Rescue Inc. responded to the accidents. They resulted in no major injuries.
The tractor-trailer accident occurred when Kenneth Ayers, 70, of Winchendon, Mass., lost control and jackknifed the trailer, eventually entering the median and rolling the vehicle onto its passenger side and coming to a rest in the median, police said.
Ayers was not injured in the crash. The tractor-trailer, which was carrying a load of pallets, was badly damaged.
"It's been a busy day," said State Police Sgt. Michael Sorensen, who responded to the Interstate 91 crashes. Sorenson said troopers also responded to crashes in Putney and Jamaica, but said none of the accidents resulted in injuries.
The state Agency of Transportation said no roads were closed due to the weather Tuesday, although plow trucks were out in full force.
The heaviest winds in the state came early in the morning, reaching about 50 mph in some areas, although Donny Dumont, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Burlington, said the winds didn't reach the full potential that was predicted Monday.
Wet snow in the morning was the cause of about 550 power outages between 5 and 8 a.m. for Central Vermont Public Service customers in the Royalton and Woodstock areas. The weather continued to knock out power at a lower rate into the afternoon, according to CVPS spokeswoman Ann Warrell.
"Power outages have been very minimal," Warrell said. "It was nothing to the extent we thought could have potentially occurred given the forecast of wind speeds."
CVPS had brought in contract crews from outside Vermont to be available in the morning in anticipation of thousands of outages.
"They were prepared to be dispatched anywhere in the state ... we took extra precautions to be as prepared as possible and didn't end up needing that support," Warrell said.
On Killington Mountain a foot of snow had fallen at the peak between Monday evening and noon Tuesday, said Killington spokesman Tom Horrocks.
While it may have made for slippery driving on Route 4, Horrocks said the fresh powder was a welcome sight for winter recreation businesses in the state and because of it, Horrocks said, more trails will be open come this Thanksgiving weekend than any previous holidays in recent memory.
Contact Dawson Raspuzzi at dawson.raspuzzi@rutlandherald.com.
13