Winter Storm Gia tore through the US over the weekend, leaving at least 13 people dead. According to authorities, hundreds of crashes were reported. In Missouri alone, 500 crashes happened, causing 300 vehicles to slide off of roadways.
Of the 13 victims, one was an Illinois State Police Trooper, Christopher Lamber, who was hit by a passing vehicle when he stopped to assist motorists on his way home from work. An investigation is underway though it seems the 34-year-old officer was killed by accident. Another Illinois native was killed in Troy after losing control of his vehicle and crossing into oncoming traffic. The 73-year-old driver, Allen Reinacher, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was not wearing a seatbelt.
In Virginia, a 16-year-old boy from Alberta, Virginia, died after being struck by an out-of-control pickup truck driven by another 16-year-old. Stephanie Jefferson, 27, lost control of her car and struck a minivan before colliding with a barricade. Speed was a factor in her death.
In Indiana, a driver was killed Saturday afternoon on Interstate 70, causing the closure of all westbound lanes.
A man in West Virginia died after losing control of his vehicle and striking another vehicle nearly head-on.
In Kansas and Missouri, five people died on slick roadways, including a mother, Deann Phillips, 53, and her stepdaughter, Olivia Phillips, 14, who slid into the path of a semitrailer. Hope Wilson, 32, of Carrollton, lost of control of her car and slid into oncoming traffic. And Bradley Horton, 62, of Topeka, died after his pickup truck slid into a concrete barrier on the Kansas Turnpike. In Jefferson County, Kansas, an 81-year-old man, Lee Crum, was killed by what appears to be slick conditions.
The dangerous icy conditions didn’t just lead to cars sliding off roads, in at least two instances, planes slid off of runways. The first occurred on Friday when a plane slid off the runway after landing at Columbia Regional Airport in Missouri. No one was hurt. One of the stewards reportedly announced, “Congratulations on surviving your first plane crash,” to the rattled passengers.
On Sunday, a Delta flight from Las Vegas slide off a taxiway after landing at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. No injuries were reported in this instance either.
