FEBRUARY 14, 2015
TOLEDO, OHIO
Blowing snow led to whiteout conditions across Ohio on Saturday,
causing numerous accidents and pileups that shut down interstates.
At least three people were killed in separate afternoon
accidents on the Ohio Turnpike and Interstate 71, while a wave of heavy snow
limited visibility at the Columbus airport and forced all flights to be
grounded for a few hours.
A pregnant woman died in a multivehicle pileup that closed
the westbound lanes of the Ohio Turnpike just east of Sandusky, authorities
said. Another crash on the turnpike about 30 miles east of the Indiana state
line left one person dead. Ohio State Highway Patrol said a 24-year-old
Buffalo, New York, man also was killed when the car he was riding in on I-71 in
Morrow County hit a tractor-trailer and went off the road.
The turnpike was turning away all westbound traffic coming
from the Cleveland and Akron areas all the way to the Indiana line — a 180-mile
stretch of the toll road. The turnpike also issued a travel ban for large
commercial vehicles and passenger cars pulling trailers.
About 20 vehicles were involved in a pileup on Interstate 70
west of Columbus, the State Highway Patrol said. It was one of several
accidents that closed the highway in both directions.
"This road is like a skating rink," said Greg
Olinger, of Dayton, whose truck jack-knifed after he swerved to avoid the
wreckage in front of him. "I couldn't see anything. It was a
whiteout."
Another truck driver, Arthur Barnett of Columbus, saw the
accident unfold right in front of him.
"What he did definitely saved a lot of lives by him
going off the road," said Barnett, whose truck was hit and shoved off the
road by several cars behind him.
At least five counties in the northwestern corner of the
state were telling all drivers except emergency workers to stay off the roads
during the early part of the afternoon.
Accidents on interstates in the Cleveland and Akron areas
also forced several roadways to be closed.