KTBB News, Weather, Talk

SMITH COUNTY — Smith County Road 2173, also known as Carl Dowdy Road, south of Whitehouse, is closed to thru traffic because of unsafe, icy conditions. County Engineer Frank Davis said part of the road is a 90-degree turn while going downhill. That section of road remained in the shade today, so it did not have the chance to melt like other roads did. Davis said it was reported to his department Tuesday afternoon, that the section of road had remained icy, and several people ended up in an accident when they tried to drive it. The Smith County Road and Bridge Department decided to barricade CR 2173, from Willingham Road to Paluxy Road (FM 756), until it can be driven safely.

TYLER — With road conditions improving, City of Tyler offices will open Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, Monday trash collections will resume, and Tuesday collections will resume on Thursday of this week. Monday and Tuesday recycling routes will resume on Wednesday, and crews will continue to collect until the backlog is complete. Residents are advised to leave both trash and recycling carts out until collected.

SHELBY COUNTY – The Texas Department of Public Safety said that a 54-year-old Shelbyville woman died on Monday after crashing into trees on FM 2694 acording to our news partners at KETK. DPS’s preliminary investigation showed that at around 8:10 a.m. a 2020 Jeep SUV was traveling west on FM 2694 at an “unsafe” speed when it slid across the eastbound side of the road and hit two trees. Officials said that Barbra Jackson, 54 of Shelbyville, was removed from the vehicle by someone who saw the crash and then the Jeep caught fire and burned. Jackson was pronounced dead at the scene by Shelby County Justice of the Peace Marla Denby. DPS is continuing to investigate the crash.

CHEROKEE COUNTY – Our news colleagues at KETK report a Jacksonville man is dead after a wreck in Cherokee County on Sunday. According to a preliminary crash report from DPS, a 2017 Chevrolet pickup was going north on SH 135 on Sunday at 3 a.m. roughly six miles northeast of Troup. The pickup reportedly “failed to drive in a single lane,” veering into the southbound lane before hitting a ditch and catching fire. The driver, identified as 23-year-old Miguel Mendez from Jacksonville, was pronounced dead at the scene.

TYLER – Due to extreme cold and worsening road conditions, non-emergency City offices for the City of Tyler will be closed to the public on Tuesday, Jan. 16. In a press release, officials say this is to comply with ERCOT’s request to conserve energy. Also closed will be the front lobbies of the Ferguson Street and Faulkner Park Police Stations and property returns and the Property and Evidence Unit. Weather permitting, all departments including Transit and Paratransit, will return to regular operations on Wednesday. City officials also say that trash collection for Monday and Tuesday are backlogged and will resume Wednesday. They ask that residents leave both trash and recycling carts out until they are dumped. Emergency services continue at full strength as needed.
 

OVERTON – The city of Overton announced early Thursday afternoon that a boil water notice has been rescinded. The boil water notice was put in effect Monday afternoon due to a problem with the city’s water recall system.

TYLER – The University of Texas at Tyler has announced that they will be closed Tuesday, Jan. 16 due to forecasted weather and road conditions. In a release, the university announced that this closing will effect the main campus, Longview University Center and the Palestine Campus. Residence Life and Student Engagement are teaming up to provide food service and snack boxes/bags for residential students.

TEXAS — Both the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas are encouraging Texans to conserve as much energy as possible, amid freezing temperatures statewide. The PUCT and ERCOT are calling for conservation efforts “due to continued freezing temperatures, very high demand and unseasonably low wind,” PUC leaders said in a Sunday release. The National Weather Service has a hard freeze warning in effect for our region until 11 a.m. Wednesday.

ERCOT is asking both businesses and residents to conserve electricity use, officials said on social media. Those experiencing and outage can report it to the PUCT by emailing consumer@puc.texas.gov or by calling 1-888-782-8477. Continue reading ERCOT, PUCT urge energy conservation due to cold

TYLER – As East Texas is struck with cold weather, about 1,193 customers in East Texas are without power as of 3:00 p.m. on Monday. Our news partner KETK has compiled a list of counties with power outages from ONCOR and SWEPCO’s power outage maps, as well as several electric co-ops. You can find that list here.

TYLER – Roads all across East Texas are starting to get icy leading to crashes and road closures throughout the area. According to our news partner KETK TxDOT Tyler is reporting that ice is accumulating on the bridges at State Highway 135 over I-20 and State Highway 31 over I-20. In Brownsboro, at FM 314 and the New Hope Church curve, a vehicle flipped because of ice in the roadway, according to Brownsboro Fire Rescue. They said that at least 10 other crashes were prevented because Brownsboro Fire Rescue members were standing in the road to slow people down. The Lindale Police Department said that Perryman Road at Main Street and Wood Springs Road is closed due ice conditions. They added that all Lindale public bathrooms are closed until Wednesday. The Mount Pleasant Police Department said that their officers are working crashes throughout Mount Pleasant as ice starts to build up on their roadways. Continue reading East Texas roads getting icy, causing crashes, closures

Winter Weather Closings and Delays – Even with wintry weather easing up in East Texas, some school districts, colleges and businesses have cancellations and delays in effect. Our news partner KETK has the complete up to date list here.

SMITH COUNTY – Even though the current winter weather cycle is diminishing, the Smith County Office of Emergency Management is offering tips and information to keep residents safe and informed. Our news partner KETK spoke with Emergency Management Coordinator Brandon Moore. He outlined resources and tips available to residents. For example, Tyler and Smith County have a Cold Weather Response Plan, which serves as a guide to provide useful information to the public. It includes tips on avoiding exposures, recognizing the signs of cold-weather related emergencies and highlights resources available to residents. “If your power goes out, we do have options,” Moore said. “So Tyler and Smith County created a winter preparation plan, and you can just Google Tyler winter weather plan and it identifies warming centers and also warming shelters. If the need arises, the cities and/or county will open centers or shelters depending on the need.” Continue reading Office of Emergency Management has winter weather tips

TYLER – According to our news partner KETK TxDOT started winterizing East Texas highways on Friday. “Most traveled roads, and so I20 is one of those, so we hit that in Gregg County, Smith County, Van Zandt County,” Jeff Williford, TxDOT Tyler District Public Information officer. TxDOT officials also assisted with Toll 49, despite it not being their roadway. Officials were treating streets with a saltwater solution.

Their number one advice is to slow down. “Roads can still get slick when it’s on there, it does help slow the process down of freezing when that precipitation hits,” said Williford. Officials also suggest checking car battery life and tires. Continue reading TxDOT monitors roadways for winter weather

TYLER – According to our news partner KETK an Arctic front arrived Saturday night, bringing a light wintry mix late Sunday into Monday and around 50+ hours of consecutive hours of below freezing temperatures. Lows are predicted to fall into the teens both Tuesday & Wednesday morning. At this time, this will be the coldest air that we’ve witnessed in East Texas since the morning of December 23rd, 2022 when we fell to 10 degrees at Tyler Pounds Airport. The lowest we’ll get temperature wise will be Tuesday morning (13 degrees). Wind chills Tuesday morning may drop below zero, mainly north of I-20. Continually updated details on coming winter weather can be found here.