Snowstorm causes businesses, schools to cancel

It was a whiteout in Henry County Sunday, Nov. 25, prompting schools to cancel classes Monday, businesses to delay or cancel overnight shifts and the Iowa State Patrol to issue a tow ban.

The snowstorm on Sunday, Nov. 25, slammed Mt. Pleasant with 9.4 inches of snow, the National Weather Service reported.

A tow ban was issued for District 13, which includes the counties of Henry, Washington, Jefferson, Des Moines, Davis, Keokuk, Louisa, Mahaska, Van Buren and Wapello. Tow trucks were not allowed to go out on service calls, and people stuck in the snow had to remain in their vehicle until the ban was lifted.

School districts in Mt. Pleasant, New London, Wayland and Danville canceled class for Monday, Nov. 26. Iowa Wesleyan University canceled classes and closed offices.

Several area businesses in Mt. Pleasant including Lomont Molding LLC, Innovairre and MackayMitchell delayed or canceled overnight and early morning shifts.

Lomont canceled third shift from midnight to 8 a.m., reopening the plant for first shift on Monday, Nov. 26 at 8 a.m.

Innovairre also canceled their third shift and had employees report for first shift Monday at 8:30 a.m.

MackayMitchell canceled a 12-hour night shift, which is only the second time they've canceled a shift in 20 years, plant manager Duane Blint said.

'It's safety first for employees. We didn't want them out traveling. Not very often do we shut down a shift for weather, but this situation was bad enough,” Blint said.

The Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance opened at 10 a.m. Monday instead of 8 a.m. to give their staff adequate time to arrive safely, according to their Facebook page.

Ltn. Lyle Murray, with the Mt. Pleasant Police Department, said people need to continue exercising caution when driving Monday and be on the lookout for snow removal vehicles.

'Don't drive if you don't need to for another day,” Murray said. 'Keep driving safe and let the snow removal people do their jobs.”

Murray said there weren't a lot of accidents in Mt. Pleasant Sunday night, just a lot of people who got stuck in the snow.

Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee said that for the most part, the roads were passable but still snow-and ice-covered Monday morning at 8:30 a.m.

A lot of cars went in the ditch Sunday night, but there wasn't a lot of damage, McNamee said, adding that the deputy working the night shift said there were no traumatic accidents.

The Henry County Roads Department sent out plow trucks for snow removal on Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m. to get ahead of the snow. They started up again at 5 a.m. Monday and anticipate going until 5 p.m., office manager Jelen McCall said.

Paved roads should be open to two-way traffic by the end of the day, while gravel roads will be cleared in another two to three days. McCall said that their priority on gravel roads is to get them cleared one-way Monday.

McCall said that if people can stay home until the gravel roads are open to two-way traffic to do so. 'If people get stuck, that creates an issue … and slows the whole operation down,” McCall said.

'On the paved roads, drive slower than normal. Plow trucks have to drive slower in order to do their job,” McCall said.