FROM STAFF REPORTS

COLUMBIANA — The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office issued the following update at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 29:

At 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday January 29^th, 2014, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is maintaining field operations throughout the county.  Deputies are responding to calls as they come in based on priority.  Deputies are not being dispatched to non-emergency calls such as a property damage report or minor motor vehicle accident without injuries.  There are hundreds of vehicles abandoned along county roadways.  Most if not all have been checked by emergency personnel for people who sheltered in them.  Our priority now is to respond to emergencies that arise.

All roadways are still impassable and closed.  Only emergency vehicles should be on the road.  In some cases the roads are more treacherous today than they were last night.  After the snow was packed by cars going over it, it has frozen into a solid sheet of ice.  This is likely to remain until some time tomorrow.

Information from the Sheriff’s Office will always be released through our webpage and local media sources.  This is also the case with most other local government units.  Social media is a great way to share information and local needs but it can also be a source of false information at times.  Official reports from the Sheriff’s Office can be trusted as accurate at the time they are released.

Earlier today, there were approximately 650 children still at county schools throughout the area and it would be physically impossible to transport that number of children with our limited number of deputies.  Children are safer at the school than they would be in a four wheel drive vehicle on an icy road. The Sheriff’s Office is placing a top priority on any call related to a school, a child’s medical needs and transportation of supplies to the school.  All Shelby County School Resource Officers remained at the schools with their students through the night for added security.

Sheriff Curry urges everyone to use common sense and patience as they wait on the roads to clear.  Space heaters, generators, and fireplaces all pose a risk of fire and carbon monoxide poisoning.  The ice poses a risk of injury to children and the elderly trying to walk on it.  It is illegal to operate four wheelers on the road and dangerous to ride four wheelers on a road covered with ice.  Please do not become another emergency with a bad decision.