Rare snow in Hampton Roads means fun for families, problems for road crews

A foot of snow fell in Virginia Beach from Feb. 19-20, creating a fun winter wonderland for kids, but a massive challenge for VDOT.

Transcript

00:00Wednesday brought snow and lots of it to Virginia, dumping nearly one to two

00:05inches per hour across Hampton Roads. As the evening progressed, roads became

00:09extremely difficult to navigate, leading to more than 500 crashes

00:13throughout the state. 45 crashes involved injuries ranging from live

00:17rescues to stalled out vehicles on bridges and tunnels. Many people

00:21getting out of their cars to assist others, causing major backups into the

00:25night as the Virginia Department of Transportation worked to efficiently

00:29clear roadways. Crews are working through that, making sure they got

00:32everything is treated and plowed as possible as they could to try to keep

00:35up with it. When snow kind of kind of started to taper off this morning,

00:38about 2 30 or so, they continue to aggressively hit that because that's

00:42really the window we want to really get in there and again be as aggressive as

00:45we can and battle that snow. By Thursday, some areas saw anywhere from

00:498 to 12 inches of accumulated snowfall, turning cities into a winter

00:53wonderland. V dot managed to get ahead of the morning rush, clearing bridges,

00:57tunnels and interstates even prior to the sun coming up. But once it did, the

01:01snow attracted families from all over Hampton Roads, some sledding for the

01:06very first time and they're doing it in southeastern Virginia fashion, many of

01:11them using boogie boards as their mode of transportation. They got creative as

01:18sleds weren't a feasible option for many, some even using cardboard to make

01:23their way down the hill. It will ultimately be a great few days off from

01:26school while crews still face a long couple days ahead. We're certainly

01:30working on plowing and also treating the roads right now. You know, when

01:34those we shift kind of from plowing more to monitoring when we get to that

01:37point. But again, multiple day event again with the temperatures not really

01:40working in our favor right now, but trying to overcome that maybe some sun

01:44tomorrow too, which would be great to kind of help conditions for Accuweather.

01:46I'm Allie Reed.