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Tractor-trailer removed after sliding off N.C. 147; 2 killed in Nash County crash

The cab of the truck appeared to have landed upright on the roadway below, while the trailer was vertical, leaning from bridge to road.

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WRAL Staff
RALEIGH, N.C. — Although big snowfall totals or picturesque scenes weren't there for the winter storm on Jan. 16, 2022, it still created problems for large swaths of central North Carolina and claimed at least two lives.

One of the more stunning images of the power of icy roads happened late Sunday afternoon, when a tractor-trailer slid off the N. C. Highway 147 bridge in Durham.

The cab of the truck appeared to land upright on 15-501 below, while the trailer was vertical, leaning from bridge to road.

The driver of the vehicle was taken to the hospital alert and is expected to be ok.

The truck is owned by HAGOS Trucking LLC who told WRAL News the driver was on his way to an Amazon facility.

The trailer was empty at the time of the crash.

Multiple tow trucks were able to lower the tractor-trailer just before 9 p.m.

Marty Homan with NCDOT said there was not much damage to the bridge, but crews would clean it and treat it with salt before reopening.

N. C. Highway 147 was cleared just before 10 p.m and 15-501 was cleared just before 11 p.m.

Two from Myrtle Beach killed in crash on I-95

Two people were killed in a Nash County crash.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol said just before 7:30 a.m Sunday, a 41-year-old driver Latron K Williams traveling on I-95 south bound near the 132-mile marker went off the road to the left and struck several trees in the median.

Both the driver and the passenger, 41-year-old Katie Jo Brainard Janta, were pronounced dead at the scene.

State highway patrol said that exceeding a safe speed for the conditions is believed to be what caused the crash.

"The best way to avoid a car accident or getting stranded is to stay put," said Gov. Roy Cooper. "If you must travel, reduce your speed, increase your following distance, and be sure to clear all the snow and ice off your vehicle.

By late Sunday morning, the snow had moved out of most of the area, replaced with sleet and freezing rain. Throughout the day, messaging from state officials was consistent: stay home and off the roads unless absolutely necessary.

Ice acculumated on tree branches and power lines, causing power outage issues and road closures.

Jan. 16, 2022, winter storm by the numbers

A by-the-numbers look at the winter weather:

  • There were as many as 87,000 power outages in the state with 15,000 in Moore County as of the early afternoon hours.
  • State troopers reponded to 444 collisions and 989 calls for service from midnight Sunday until late afternoon.
  • There were more than 160 flights canceled at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
  • Chapel Hill suspended its transit service.
Generally, the roads most likely to be icy were north and west of Raleigh. The major roads around Raleigh were slushy, and bridges were slick. Areas south and east of Raleigh saw heavier freezing rain, allowing ice to accumulate and damage power lines over Interstate 95 in Robeson County. The highway was closed in both directions there for most of the day. The intersection of East Cornwall Road and Warren Avenue in Cary was also closed after a tree fell and snapped a power pole.
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State officials started brining the roads on Thursday in preparation for Sunday's storm. Duke Energy estimated as many as 750,000 in the state could lose power in the storm, and the company brought hundreds of additional trucks and crew members to North Carolina.

On Holly Springs Road in Holly Springs, a tree fell across the road and brought a power line with it.

Areas like Person County were a slushy mess, although there was minimal traffic along US 501. Roads like the Durham Freeway were covered with frozen precipatation. Plow crews and salt spreaders were persistent in Orange County.

In Fuquay-Varina, a viewer sent WRAL footage of a power line catching on fire when a tree branch fell on it. In Moore County, it was pretty common to see tree limbs down in neighborhoods, likely caused by the ice weighing them down.

"The best advice I can give you is just to stay home if at all possible and wait this one out," said WRAL's Brian Shrader.

Gusty winds and icy trees are expected to increase outages across the state into the evening. As of 11 p.m. There were nearly 2,000 outages in the northern parts of the Triangle while to the south there were nearly 15,000 Duke Energy customers without power.

The majority of these outages were in the Souther Pines area.

"The real telling number is the number of individual outages that remain," Jeff Brooks with Duke Energy said around 4:30 p.m. "There's more than 3,000 individual locations around the state that have to be visited, repaired, often three to four-hour average repair. That gives you a sense of there's still so much work left to be done even as new outages come in."

The fact that the storm hit on Sunday of what's generally a three-day weekend for many kept traffic lighter than usual on the main roads.

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