KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The predicted snowfall Friday morning and early afternoon materialized and paralyzed Kansas City’s drivers.
As of 1 p.m., several major interstates across the city had been closed.
In Missouri, a 15-car crash involving tractor trailers near Interstate 70 in Oak Grove claimed the life of at least one person and closed the westbound lanes of the interstate.
There was also a wreck involving 20 cars on WB I-70 near Concordia, Missouri.
By 5 p.m., the Missouri Highway Patrol said they had responded to 300 calls for service, which included 147 slide-offs, 65 crashes. Eight people were injured in the crashes, with one person killed.
The snowfall prompted the City of Kansas City, Missouri's Office Emergency Management to issue a snow emergency.
To help snow plows with clearing their routes: On streets that run North/South, please park on West side of the street. For streets that run East/West, park on the North side of the street. Please start parking like this today. Thank you. ❄️ pic.twitter.com/YWu1bKC1kf
— Kansas City, MO (@KCMO) February 15, 2019
On the Kansas side, several cities encouraged motorists involved in non-injury wrecks to walk in their reports when the weather improved.
The Kansas Department of Transportation said three of their snow plows were struck by motorists trying to pass the plows on uncleared roads. A spokesperson said there were no injuries but encouraged motorists to exercise patience.
In Overland Park, several crashes were caught on street cameras, prompting officials to warn drivers to slow down.
These crashes are from this morning. C'mon people, SLOW DOWN! It's slippery out there. Also, red lights mean STOP. FYI, our traffic cameras now capture approximately 30% of the over 5000 crashes investigated by the @OverlandPark_PD pic.twitter.com/JtQtca3zpJ
— Frank Donchez (@OPPD_Chief) February 15, 2019
The metro remains in a Winter Weather Advisory until 9 p.m.
