Drivers in parts of the South face another day of dangerous road conditions and black ice after a wintry snowstorm walloped several Southern states, officials have warned.
While sunny skies helped North Carolina thaw on Tuesday, temperatures dropped again overnight, putting a winter weather advisory in effect for western parts of the state through late Wednesday morning.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper warned that any moisture left on roads from melting snow could turn into black ice again Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, the grim search continued on Wednesday for a missing truck driver whose tractor-trailer plunged into the Neuse River in eastern North Carolina, near Kinston.
At around 4am on Sunday, the truck driven by a postal service contractor broke through a bridge guard rail on westbound U.S. 70 and went into the river.
Dive crews were able to reach the cab of the truck on Sunday, but did not find a body. North Carolina Department of Transportation officials used a large boat to help engineers inspect the bridge.
On Monday, as the storm passed, crews were able to remove the truck from the river and reopen the highway to drivers.
Searchers using sonar and diving equipment have continued to search the river, but have yet to find a body.
In addition to the missing trucker, the storm is blamed for at least three deaths in North Carolina and one in Tennessee.
The snow blanketed much of North Carolina with snow, and some areas saw accumulations of more than two feet – as much snow in a day as those areas usually get in a year.
North Carolina’s Highway Patrol had responded to 2,300 crashes as of Tuesday.
Governor Cooper also warned runoff from snowmelt could combine with an expected rainstorm this week to increase the flooding threat along some rivers.
A new storm system is forecast to bring heavy rain and strong to severe thunderstorms to part of the Midwest, South, and Mid-Atlantic on Thursday and Friday.
I’ve hit black ice before, it scares the living shit out of you, what happens is the truck goes completely out of control, most of the time the driver had the cruise control on, big mistake around black ice, yes I had mine on when I hit as well. I was all over the highway, interstate 40 in north Arkansas, when it was over I had to pull to the side and calm down for awhile, scared the hell out of me. Thank God it was early morning, no traffic.
What you do is tap the trailer brakes a couple of times to straighten the trailer out, foot off accelerator and cruise will automatically disengage, should straighten everything out. Panic is a bitch, if you can stay cool and collected, your good, panic and your fkd.
Black ice kills truck drivers, big time.
absolutely no dam fun
Glided across a patch, just the other day. Accelerating uphill, on a bend, the rear breaks loose, and ladyluck favors me with no on-coming traffic!
Did you have a stinky smell coming from your pants when it was all over? 🙂