Multimedia Package By Taylor Womack and Tanner Harris
On Friday, Dec. 16, in the late afternoon, the first snow/frozen rain fell in the St. Louis area. The frozen rain came down for hours causing all the roads to freeze, making it difficult for drivers to get anywhere without sliding around. The street department couldn’t react fast enough to the weather and were unprepared for this until later that night, but much damage had already been done.
The frozen rain caused driving to be very dangerous, causing many accidents on Friday and Saturday. By Saturday afternoon, the icy rain had finally seized and the street department had finally gotten salt on the roads making it safe for drivers to proceed as usual.
Luckily, the frozen rain came when school was not in session, because it would have spelled trouble for many schools in the St. Louis area. Sidewalks and driveways still may be slick on Monday morning causing a concern for students who ride the bus in the area.
Many St. Louis area school district canceled classes on Monday, but Pattonville School District was in session as normal, allowing high school students to take their 1st and 3rd hour finals as scheduled.
If the street department would not have gotten the roads cleaned up in time, the weather may have affected school on Monday causing problems for students taking final exams. However, students did not have to worry about the hazardous weather on Monday because the Pattonville High School parking lot was cleared of all ice and snow, therefore allowing school to resume as scheduled for final exams.
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