LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Thursday evening, WHAS11 spent time catching up with travelers who were all trying to beat the winter blast.
We met them at a busy rest area just off I-65 between Louisville and Elizabethtown.
Jonathan Walterhouse was traveling with his sons from Pennsylvania and was heading back home to Arkansas.
“We wanna try to get in before the weather gets really cold,” he said. “I’ve been in a few ice storms, but right now it’s okay.”
Capritta Ray was traveling with her family from Indiana to Florida. She’s excited to spend time with her loved ones, and they were taking turns driving to make the journey manageable.
"We're all kinda splitting it up and hoping we can make it there on time and beat the snow,” she said. “Since the pandemic hit, we haven’t really had time for all of us to come together.”
Karen Taylor was traveling from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Thompson Station, Tennessee – a seven hour drive.
"I am traveling south to get home and beat the storm this afternoon,” she said. “I have a blanket. I have the big snow scraper. I have snacks, water, all the things just in case I get stranded.”
And with rain turned snow, they want fellow travelers to stay safe.
"I just feel like everyone tries to rush to get there, but if we all take our time and be safe and remember the basics of driving we should be fine,” Ray said.
“Keep your lights on,” Walterhouse said. “We've seen some people already without their lights on in the rain, so remember to check those and be careful and be smart.”
Crews in Kentuckiana have been working to keep the roads clear. The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) said prep started days ago. Now, they need drivers to do their part.
“We want drivers to really pay attention to bridges overpasses, lower low-lying areas,” Jim Hannah, spokesman for KYTC District 5, said. “If there's going to be puddling water, that's probably going to flash freeze.”
Hannah said trouble areas include portions of I-64 along the riverfront, the rock cuts on I-71 at the I-264 split in eastern Jefferson County and the hill at Billtown Road on I-265.
“Don't crowd the plow,” Natalie Garrett, strategic communications director for INDOT, said. “Give our crews plenty of room to do their work safely. The less traffic that's out there, the quicker they're able to clear and treat roadways as needed.”
Garrett also warns of white-out conditions due to high wind speeds.
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