Slick roads and snowy weather Monday evening forced communities across the region to handle a large number of accidents and work at clearing roads of snow and ice.
Multiple accidents were reported in municipalities including Lansing, Crown Point and Winfield Township and on interstate and state roads in Illinois and Northwest Indiana.
There were at least 50 accidents from 3 to 6 p.m. on Northwest Indiana interstates, Indiana State Trooper Justin Neshius said. An Illinois state trooper said there were multiple accidents involving injuries, but there were too many for him to give details about any specific one.
Although wind-blown snow was a problem Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service in Romeoville, Ill., expects today to be a dry day. However, freezing roads may be an issue with lower temperatures.
"Temperatures tonight will reach into the teens, but tomorrow we're expecting temps to go back into the mid-30s," meteorologist Amy Seeley said.
Chesterton Fire Department Lt. John Jarka said although roads weren't in the best condition, the only serious accident the department responded to Monday afternoon was on a stretch of Interstate 94. A man and a woman who were in the accident were airlifted from the scene and sent to area hospitals, Jarka said. Their conditions are unknown, he said.
Hammond Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Margraf said he noticed a large volume of accidents about 4:30 p.m. when roads started icing just as traffic was picking up. The city did its best to handle the weather issues, he said.
"I did see the snowplows out early," Margraf said. "They were hitting the main arteries as best as they could."
Drivers have to be careful traveling on highway overpasses, bridges and roads in open areas because those areas often are the first to become icy, Jarka said.
An accident involving a truck on westbound I-94 near the Indiana Toll Road about 5 p.m. held up traffic for a portion of the eening. The Indiana State Police didn't have specific information on the crash. There also were reports of an accident near West 93rd Avenue and Main Street at the Merrillville-Crown Point border, among others.
