by Wesley Harris
At least 26 fatalities across the South and four deaths in Louisiana have been attributed to Ice Storm Fern.
Local authorities have pleaded with motorists to stay off the roads because of dangerous conditions. Chief Deputy Landon Hunt said the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office had responded to numerous crashes, including motorists who unexpectedly came upon downed trees in the roadway that were difficult to see because of the heavy sleet falling Saturday. No serious injuries were reported in the crashes, Hunt said.
While a few of the lost lives across the South occurred during car crashes, other mishaps have caused fatalities and injuries, including the loss of two teenagers in sledding incidents in Arkansas and Texas. The incidents are similar to the serious injury and paralysis of a Louisiana Tech student in 1988 while he was sledding down a campus hill on a garbage can lid and collided with the concrete base of a light pole.
In Arkansas, officials confirmed a 17-year-old was killed in a sledding accident Saturday. Saline County deputies responded to Benton to find the young man had been riding a sled pulled by a motor vehicle before the sled hit a tree.
A 16-year-old girl was killed in Frisco, Texas Sunday after she and another teen on a sled collided with a tree while being pulled by a vehicle. The sled reportedly struck a curb on a city street and then collided with the tree.
Local deaths and injuries run the gamut from exposure to the cold to falling objects due to the weight of the ice left by the storm.
Authorities reported two men apparently died from hypothermia in Shreveport and a woman was found dead outside her home in Franklin Parish. The State Fire Marshal reported a man died from carbon monoxide poisoning inside a residence in DeSoto Parish.
While no data is available on slips and falls on the ice this week, such injuries are very common after snowfall or an ice storm. According to the National Institutes of Health, back injury is most common injury during a fall after an ice storm. When fractures occur, they are mostly likely to involve the wrist, hip, and ankle.
In addition to back injuries, orthopedic doctors say falls on ice can result in head injuries, sprains, and knee and elbow injuries. Other injuries may be due to electrical shock from improper connections to a generator and carbon monoxide poisoning from using a generator indoors or use of heating devices without proper ventilation.
Locally, several serious injuries have occurred in the aftermath of Ice Storm Fern.
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Electrocution fear of lineman
The greatest danger to utility workers attempting to restore power is the possibility of electrocution. A generator improperly connected to a home’s electrical system can backfeed into the power grid, re-energizing supposedly dead lines and risking fatal electrocution to linemen working to restore power.
Hunter Alexander, a lineman with Entergy was electrocuted Sunday while working on power lines, according to his family. He was in the bucket of his aerial lift truck when his crew found him with serious electrical burns to both arms. First responders were unable to transport him to Shreveport due to impassable roads and he was taken to the Northern Louisiana Medical Center (NLMC) in Ruston.
Alexander needed to be transferred to LSU Ochsner in Shreveport, but with Interstate 20 impassable, the only option was to fly him. Pafford Air One from a local ambulance service was cleared to fly but needed a safe landing zone at NLMC. The landing zone had to be cleared of ice before the helicopter could pick up the patient.
NLMC CEO Cathy Hall, ER nurses from both the day shift and night shift staff who had worked all night, and a Ruston police officer began shoveling. The Ruston Fire Department and other city employees arrived to continue the work with a city backhoe and a hospital employee’s tractor.
A NLMC statement on social media read, “Because of teamwork, grit, and an unwavering focus on patient care, the helicopter landed safely and the patient was flowing flown out.”
The statement continued, “This is what it looks like when a hospital, first responders, and a community come together with one goal doing what’s right for the patient—no matter what. We are incredibly proud of our employees whose quick thinking, selflessness, and determination truly made a difference. Thank you to everyone involved in exemplifying what it means to serve with heart.”
Recent reports from the family indicate Alexander is making a miraculous recovery from what could have been a fatal electrocution. Alexander has been up and walking and though he needs more treatment, he has amazed medical personnel with his recovery.
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Falling limb injures man
Johnathan Spence of West Monroe was critically injured when he was struck by a falling tree limb in Ouachita Parish. According to his family, Spence’s back was broken with vertebrae pressing on his spinal column.
According to a social media post shared by his mother and the family’s church, Spence was taken to St. Francis Medical Center after the incident and had no feeling from the waist down. He underwent surgery Sunday to decompress his spinal column. A lengthy hospital stay and more treatment is expected, the family said.
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Collapse due to ice
Jay Martin was cleaning articles out from under a carport laden with a thick sheet of ice at his home near Dubach when the structure collapsed on top of him Saturday. According to the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office, an off-duty medic and a patrol deputy were first to the scene and were able to affect a rescue and apply a tourniquet to stop bleeding.
The victim was transported to Reeves Memorial Medical Center in Bernice for treatment and was later transferred to Shreveport for observation overnight with no broken bones, according to the man’s family.
Ice weighs considerably more than a comparable depth of snow and a heavy accumulation can seriously damage structures.
Such was the case in Sterlington Monday when the canopy over the gas pumps at a Shell service station on U.S. 165 collapsed, pinning one person under the debris.
According to the Sterlington Police Department, the victim was seriously injured and had to be extricated from under the fallen canopy. At least two vehicles were trapped under the debris.
A similar incident occurred at the Delta Mini Mart, an Exxon station on West California Avenue in Ruston Sunday. The canopy over the gas pumps fell under the weight of the ice, trapping two vehicles underneath. Information on injuries in that incident was unavailable.
Officials say staying home during and after a winter storm not only avoids the hazards of dangerous roadways but a host of other threats to personal safety.
