‘If you don’t have to be out there, don’t’: SCHP says roads treacherous after storm

Roads, bridges, and overpasses are covered in ice and snow Thursday morning after Winter Storm Grayson blew into the area Wednesday, not bringing what was expected, but still more than enough to create hazardous driving conditions across the region.

“We’re asking drivers if you don’t have to be out there, don’t,” said Cpl. Sonny Collins with the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

As of about 8 a.m., no bridges in Horry County were closed, but there were reports of ice and snow on many of them.

Ice/snow was reported on the S.C. 544 bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway about 7:30 a.m., according to the SCHP website.

A crash without injuries was reported about 7:20 a.m. on U.S. 17 Bypass just past the bridge near Socastee, the SCHP website states.

Collions tweeted from Florence about 7 a.m. that conditions were treacherous Thursday, but also said roadways in Horry County were icy and dangerous too.

“Driving is very hazardous this morning. We are already responding to crashes in the Pee Dee,” his tweet that contained a picture of a snow-blanketed road stated.

Main Street in North Myrtle Beach was also covered in a wintry slush Thursday morning, and it was the same for S.C. 90.

“We are seeing a lot of icing on the roads that’s left over from yesterday that froze overnight,” said Collins.

The storm brought about that was originally projected to bring possibly 4 inches of snow to the area only brought in a light dusting due a low pressure shifting closer to the coast, weather authorities said.

“Be extremely gentle on breaking and accelerating,” Collins said. “That’s where we see the problems.” He also advised that drivers put plenty of distance between themselves and other vehicles to allow time to stop if needed, and suggested traveling well below the speed limit if for motorists who must be on the road.

Crashes in Georgetown County added up after the storm moved in mid morning, and Midway Fire Rescue officials tweeted Wednesday night that county first responders were called out to about 32 crashes since 11 a.m. that morning, according to numbers from the Georgetown County Emergency Management.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 8:08 AM with the headline "‘If you don’t have to be out there, don’t’: SCHP says roads treacherous after storm."