DelDOT works to keep roads operational in winter storm

NEWARK, Del. (WPVI) -- The Delaware state flag blew in wind filled with snow after the highly-anticipated storm made its landing at about 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

Thirty minutes earlier, a snow emergency went into effect for all three counties in the state - New Castle, Kent and Sussex.

"We know we're heading into it so it's probably not gonna be pretty coming up here," said Heather Schronce of Annapolis, Maryland.

A lot of truckers were sitting the night out, bunkered down in the welcome center parking lot waiting to see what Saturday brings.

Meanwhile, DelDOT crews were doing their best to keep I-95 operational.

At the DelDOT salt yard in Newark, it was all hands on deck as they work through the night to try and keep up with the storm.

"At some point during the storm, it's gonna be too much to actually keep salting so it'll just be a completely mechanical operation at that point," said Maureen Kelley, DelDOT Maintenance Engineer.

Meanwhile, some of the roads were beginning to get a bit snowy as the storm hammered away.

"I just got back from Pennsylvania and it was starting up pretty good there," said Malcom McMullen of Newcastle.

Across Delaware, snowy scenes were typical as the snow kept coming down at a steady clip.

Residents were doing their best to try to keep up with it, shoveling and brushing snow off sidewalks before they got too deep.

While driving isn't advised, Action News found plenty of folks gassing up earlier on Friday in Wilmington Manor in case of an emergency.

Mike Porter of Prospect Park, Pennsylvania, was headed to his beach house in Rehoboth Beach to ride out the storm, and hoping for the best.

He says, "More with the flooding and the high winds down there. I got a lot of trees down there around my place. I'm right on the water, so."

At midnight Saturday, a Level 1 Driving Warning is in effect, meaning any person operating a motor vehicle should exercise extra caution due to expected blizzard conditions. State and local officials are directed to remove any abandoned vehicles from roads in affected areas at the expense of the vehicle owner.

In addition, DART has suspended bus and paratransit services for Saturday, Jan. 23.

"I think with this event, because we have blizzard conditions, it might be a little bit longer than normal. We do work on our interstates first, our primaries, secondaries and locals then," said Kelley.

If you download the DelDOT app, you can check the track of plow trucks in your area. You can download the app by visiting DelDOT's website.

You can also check www.dartfirststate.com for updates regarding Sunday service.