Sleet causing accidents; closings mount

Published 12:00 am Friday, January 25, 2013

UPDATE: Rowan-Cabarrus Community College has cancelled Saturday classes.
Catawba College School of Evening and Graduate Studies classes are delayed until 10 a.m. Saturday.

The Winter Flight 8K and associated events will be delayed one hour Saturday, organizers say.
Early packet pickup and late registration set for tonight at Catawba College’s Goodman Gym is cancelled.
Race-day registration will now begin at 9 a.m. and continue through 10:45 a.m. A fun run will start at 10:30 a.m., with the 8K and the Health Walk 5K starting at 11 a.m.
“The race committee assessed the forecast for Saturday, which currently is a high 47 degrees and sunny, and have concluded that we will run all of these races on Saturday,” Salisbury Rowan Runners said in a news release.
The race committee could delay the races for an additional hour if weather requires it, the release said.
All of the events are at Catawba College.
For updates, monitor www.salisburyrunners.org, the Salisbury Rowan Runners Facebook page and salisburypost.com. For more information, call 704-310-6741.

The sleet that’s falling all day is causing wrecks across the county.
Interstate 85 is covered with ice this afternoon, and motorists are sliding off of it onto the shoulder, into the median and into one another.
At least two vehicles have overturned on icy roads today. No serious injuries were reported.
N.C. Highway Patrol troopers are having trouble keeping up with all the accident calls, according to emergency radio communications. One trooper told a Post reporter at a wreck scene that people are simply driving too fast for conditions.
Frank Thomason, Rowan County Emergency Services director, said the county has seen an increase in the number of car accidents since about 2 p.m. Schools dismissed classes early, but Thomason said he’s concerned about the afternoon and evening commute as people start heading home from work.
Temperatures are expected to stay below freezing, keeping road conditions hazardous, until mid-morning tomorrow.
“Whatever falls is going to stay,” Thomason said. “There will be slick spots throughout the night and into the morning, until the temperature gets up above freezing to start melting it off the roadways.”
Craig Powers, Salisbury’s street division manager, said city crews have been out in four trucks spraying a salt and sand mix on the roads. They started with emergency routes, bridges and overpasses, then moved through neighborhoods while concentrating on trouble spots.
“Any intersections and hills are your worst areas,” Powers said. “Make sure you give yourself enough time to slow down at intersections. If you don’t, you’ll slide right through them.”
In the early afternoon, he said, the city attached chains to the trucks’ tires to keep them from sliding. He said crews have seen a number of cars slipping and sliding on the ice.
A number of organizations and businesses have closed early today, and some events have been canceled or delayed.
Those include:
The Andrew Jackson Society Dinner and Clement Cup Award set for tonight has been postponed due to the weather and rescheduled for Friday, Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m.
The Kanepunch concert tonight at LGAC has been postponed to March.
Pinocchio’s restaurant in Spencer is closed for lunch today and will close for dinner.
Blue Vine has canceled its entertainment for tonight.
Enon Baptist Church after-school care is closed.
Salisbury Pediatrics closed at 11 a.m. today.
Rowan County offices closed at 1 p.m.
All non-essential city facilities in Salisbury closed at 10 a.m. Essential operations will continue.
Salisbury city transit will operate through 4:45 p.m. and stop service two hours early.
Rowan Transit System will have no evening service.
Concord’s Rider Transit has canceled all scheduled service for today. Service will resume on Saturday. For updates, visit www.ckrider.com or the Rider Transit Facebook Page.
Please Tweet closings to @salisburypost #rowanclosings