As night fell on the day after Christmas in Gilmer County, snow moved into the area and created problems for motorists and travelers.
Vehicles lined the sides of many roads with hills Tuesday morning.
Gilmer County Public Safety Director Keith Kucera said fire and EMS workers were still responding to calls Tuesday morning, Dec. 27. A thaw later in the day would allow the department to assess what happened.
Gilmer County had been experiencing extremely cold temperatures which kept the snow from melting once it started falling.
“We’ve got cars in different places that are trapped or were left during the night,” said Gilmer County Sheriff Captain Frank Copeland. “It’s still icy.”
Gilmer County’s 911 emergency call center received close to 300 calls between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m., he said.
“It was just one after another,” Copeland said. “There were a lot of people up from Florida and other places.”
Many were having trouble reaching their rental homes and cabins.
Coosawattee River Resort began sending out messages to residents beginning at 7:16 p.m., Dec. 26. The messages warned of roads becoming impassable due to snow and stranded vehicles.
Soon they were warning of gates being clogged with vehicles and the Fireplace Room was opened as a warming center inside the gated community.
Copeland said most calls to the 911 center dealt with vehicles off the road or accidents. There are only so many wreckers so people were forced to wait for help, he said.
He knew of one medical emergency and the person received aid.
Some roads, like Maddox Drive, were closed as the snow stuck and made them impassable.
Kucera said he talked to GDOT and Gilmer County, and both agencies had road crews out doing what they could to prepare and clear the roads.
A warming center was opened at the civic center and at least 24 people, mostly stranded motorists, were helped there, Kucera said. He heard of no fatalities related to the storm.