Ohio digging out from under snow

Ohio digging out from under snow

Students in schools that closed Monday are to make up the reading part of the Ohio Graduation Test on March 17.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Highway and utility crews cleared major highways Monday in time for morning commuters to return to work after a record-setting snowstorm that buried much of Ohio over the weekend.

Cleanup crews worked overtime on main streets and highways Sunday, pushing away snow that began falling Friday and didn’t let up until Saturday evening.

Many workers returned to their downtown offices, but schools in Columbus and other central Ohio districts closed Monday since sidewalks and side streets remained jammed with piles of snow, raising safety concerns for students walking to school.

Some rural school districts in southwest Ohio started classes later than usual. Cincinnati Public Schools were on a regular schedule, as were Dayton Public Schools.

Monday was the first day of the annual Ohio Graduation Test. Schools that delayed the start of classes were still required to give the reading portion of the exam. But thousands of students whose schools were closed must make up the reading part March 17, said Education Department spokesman Scott Blake.

He said many districts had already scheduled makeup time next week for individual students expected to miss parts of the exam. Other portions of the test include math, science and writing.

Motorists were still urged to use caution Monday, said Mary Carran Webster, the assistant public service director in Columbus.

The late-winter storm dumped more than 20 inches of snow on Columbus, while blizzard conditions caused most people to hunker down inside homes. By midafternoon Sunday, snowplows had been to just 55 of the city’s 196 residential zones, Webster said.

Ohio State University held classes Monday but warned that parking would be more difficult than usual. Parking lots are plowed but not down to the pavement, and garage ramps were slippery, officials said.

Throughout the weekend, cleanup crews were busy in Cleveland and Cincinnati, which each received about a foot of snow. In downtown Cincinnati, crews hauled piles of snow away by dump truck.

The Ohio Emergency Management Agency continued to monitor the cleanup around the state, but no counties had declared an emergency nor were there any requests for state assistance.

The storm, which rolled in Friday, centered on Columbus, breaking the city’s record of 15.3 inches of snow set in February 1910, the National Weather Service said.

One traffic death was attributed to the weather Friday. Three men in the Cleveland area and one in the Columbus area died Saturday while shoveling snow, authorities said.

About 2,160 traffic accidents were reported to the State Highway Patrol, with 215 involving injuries.

Some snow showers were forecast Monday for the northern half of the state, but no accumulation was expected, according to Mike Ryan, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service station in Wilmington.

The prospect of relatively dry weather the next two to three days reduced fear of flooding along the Ohio River, Ryan said.