FEMALE PASSENGER DIES AFTER HIGHWAY 92 HEAD-ON COLLISION NORTHEAST OF WAHOO, NEBRASKA. DRIFTING SNOW HAD NARROWED THE HIGHWAY TO ONE LANE.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
WAHOO, NEBRASKA:
One woman has died because of a weather-related accident in
Saunders County.
Kathleen Schulzkump, 62, of West Point died Sunday at the
Saunders County Medical Center.
At 12:48 p.m., two cars collided on Highway 92 between
County Roads 13 and 14 northeast of Wahoo, according to the Saunders County
Sheriff’s Office.
Tony Grabowski of Wahoo was in a 1994 Chevy Suburban
westbound on Highway 92.
Wesley Schulzkump of West Point was traveling east on the
highway in a 2002 Chrysler Cruiser, and Kathleen Schulzkump was a front seat
passenger.
The highway was narrowed to one lane because of drifting
snow, and the two vehicles collided.
Wahoo Fire and Rescue performed CPR on Kathleen Schulzkump
at the scene of the collision. She later died at the medical center, Saunders
County officials said.
Grabowski and Wesley Schulzkump were taken to the medical
center with minor injuries.
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SAUNDERS
COUNTY, Neb. —Anyone who lives in Wahoo could testify that the drifting snow
was a trouble for those on the road Sunday.
"There's
nothing you can do until the wind stops," said Drake Steinmetz, of Wahoo.
The
Saunders County Sheriff's Office said high drifts and blowing snow blocked the
view of drivers who collided head-on just east of Wahoo on Highway 92.
Kathleen
Schulzkump, from West Point, was killed in the crash.
"It's
been crazy," Robbie Wilson said. "I mean, I'm from Wahoo, so I have
seen it before, but I just haven't seen it this year. It's just kind of
different."
What
makes the rural highways so deadly is that the wind is always blowing snow
across the road, regardless of how many plows come down them.
The
interstate wasn't any safer. An Illinois man died in a multi-car crash on I-80
that closed the highway for a few hours. The accident happened between the
Waverly and Highway 77 exits. KETV NewsWatch 7 was told it started when a
semi-trailer stalled and another semi-trailer slammed into it.
The
sad news prompted many people to not drive, at least out of town.
"I'm
staying right here," Steinmetz said..
"Hopefully
everyone makes it home safe," Wilson said.
Black
ice will be the biggest problem overnight. There's not a product out there that
can effectively melt it when it gets this cold. The general advice is to stay
home.