Yesterday afternoon, March 14, the dirt storm came up so quickly that visibility became nearly zero in areas of Northwest Kansas. Many accidents were reported in our listening area including the major one on Interstate 70 near Edson, KS.
Listener, Charlene West-Scheneman was involved in the multiple-car accident and was one of the vehicles that avoided being hit. She gave us permission to share her photos (shared below in a slideshow) and release this quote: "It was very scary, when the dust came it was automatically zero visibility. I swerved to miss a van, 2 cars and 2 semis. I somehow went through without hitting anyone. I'm feeling grateful and blessed today. I'm also feeling sad for those who were not so lucky. Emotional day"
It is a very emotional day for our listening area as our friends and neighbors work tirelessly to clean up Interstate 70 and sort thru exactly what happened. Our prayers are with our local emergency personnel, tow companies, law enforcement, hospitals, and those that were involved in the accidents.
Yesterday afternoon and thru the evening KDOT shut down Highway 40 between Sharon Springs and Oakley, Highway 27 between Tribune and Goodland, and Interstate 70 between Goodland and Wakeeney due to the dust storm and resulting zero visibility and accidents.
Interstate 70 remains closed this morning between Goodland and Colby for an "extended amount of time", per the Kansas Department of Transportation. With this section of Interstate 70 closed, Highway 24 between Goodland and Colby is extremely busy.
Crews are hard at work to clean up vehicles this morning on Interstate 70 near Edson, KS where the major car pile-up happened yesterday. (Pictures below taken in this morning by NWKS Radio) This wasn't the only accident that occurred in our listening area, as there are reports of accidents on Highway 24 between Goodland and Edson, and on Highway 40 east of Sharon Springs.
Thomas County issued a State of Emergency last night, announcing it on their Facebook page by saying "Thomas County Declares State of Local Emergency Thomas County, Kansas – In response to today’s multi-vehicle accident on I70 near Brewster, the Thomas County Commission has declared a State of Local Emergency. This declaration will be formalized at the Commission meeting on Monday."
We are still waiting on offiicial releases from the Kansas Highway Patrol and Local County Emergency Offices on the number of vehicles involved, number of injured, and fatalities.