We all have high expectations of our local government departments, as we should. The previous snow/ice event that struck Loudon County pushed our highway department to their limits. This event was unlike one we've seen in a long time. Even if you go back to the blizzard of 93, it wasn't as bad as this one. The big difference was the temperatures. In '93, the days leading up to the 15" snow fall, had been warmer than normal, reaching into the 60's just before the snow storm. Then within three days after the storm, the temps warmed again well above freezing. This made clean up a much easier task.

The cold weather moved in a couple days before the snow hit then the temperatures really took a dive. For nearly a week temperatures never got above freezing and at night went to single digits. This froze everything hard. As a side note, at temperatures below 20 degrees, salt melting slows significantly. Below 15 degrees, salt melt doesn't happen at all.  The super low temps, the snow and ice set up terrible road conditions. It wasn't just county roads, but state roads and interstates were also terrible.

All that said, the Loudon County Highway Department made the best they could of a near impossible situation. The road guys worked 16 hours per day trying to get to all the county roads. Could they get to all them at once, absolutely not. Did they work day in and day out to get there, you better believe they did.

While it seemed not much was happening at times, rest assured, Highway Superintendent Billy Pickel and the entire department were working long hours to get the job done.

Below is a little information about the county and the highway department that might help folks understand what they were up against.

In Loudon County there are 655 roads equaling 450 miles of roads.