So Chris Hodge has been holding down
the Fort in Denton County all week
during this winter storm event.
Yeah, Chris, I know you have seen quite
a bit over the past couple of days.
How did things look so far this morning?
Well, Mark, it is slightly
raining this morning,
which could be a good thing. I'll tell you,
yesterday after we got off the air,
we started to get some rain.
We thought that that might make things worse,
but it actually made driving better
because it turned the ice that was
on the road into slush.
The way it was explained to me,
the rain that was falling was warm
enough to turn the ice into slush.
Now coming out this morning
in the parking lot though,
different story because that
Slush had refrozen overnight.
So now you have a situation.
Where it's a much more
spotty covering of ice.
Walking out into the parking lot this
morning, ice was fine in some areas,
totally wet but dry,
didn't have to worry about slipping,
and then the next thing you know you're
having to inch by with that Penguin walk,
as they say. So the.
Situation still very dangerous.
It seems like there could be some
light at the end of the tunnel.
You can see the snow plows are out.
I've been keeping an eye on I-35 because
we can see it from where we're standing.
Cars are zooming right right
along on the Interstate,
so it doesn't look like there's
much of an issue up there.
But remember this spotty
ice that I just explained?
You might be perfectly fine one second,
slipping and sliding the next.
So the way things happen overnight,
you got to really pay attention
to where you're stepping,
where you're driving.
But.
It does seem like we're
getting towards the end of it,
especially if this rain falling
now has that same effect of
turning the ice into slush.
That's what we're going to be monitoring
this morning in Denton County.
Now let's send it out to Collin County,
where Tiffany Liu is out there.
Tiffany,
is it raining where you're at?
You know, it is sprinkling where I'm at
right now and it's very similar to you.
This is a far cry from the last
few days that we've seen, but look,
it is still a little bit nasty out.
You know, there are still some
slush on the ground, but overall
the ice here has pretty much melted.
I drove yesterday from Dallas back to
McKinney and the roads were rather clear.
Even the hotel parking lot that
I was staying at overnight,
that was clear as well.
So now that we're taking a big
sigh of relief,
I definitely want to give a shout
out to those essential workers.
Those first responders who really
had to work hard those last
few days around the clock.
For us here in McKinney,
Med units had extra firefighter,
paramedic staff,
dispatchers in Plano.
They spent nights at work away
from their families and essential
workers in Frisco as well.
They stayed at nearby hotels to make sure
they could be there to answer the call.
As we were telling people to stay home,
obviously there were so many who needed
to go to work and they were able
to help us out in those situations,
not only for those first responders but
also places. Like Walgreens as well.
This pharmacy was open when it was
frozen over and almost everybody
else was closed.
And also I'm standing in the
parking lot right now of this 711.
I just have to give a shout out to
mark inside because he has been
so gracious to us letting us stand
under this awning during the rain
this morning told me he had a fresh
pot of coffee inside.
It's these essential workers who
really make this whole week better
after standing in the cold for so long.
But you guys, no hat,
no gloves this morning I'm feeling
pretty good.
Send it over to Sean Giggy in Dallas.
Yeah, I am on Haskell near 75
on the north side of Dallas.
And do you ever have deja vu?
For the third straight day,
it seems like we're telling you
to try to avoid those roads.
And This is why you may be tempted today,
because it may seem slushy,
but there is still some ice.
Obviously, I'm on the sidewalk now,
so this is especially
important for pedestrians.
But there are still patches of
this on the road here and there.
The roads are much better
than the past two days,
but ice is still something to deal with.
I want you to come with me because
I want to show you something.
OK, we're going to step down here.
Watch that first step.
It's a doozy if you come across the road.
Here, take a look at this.
This giant.
Branch fell this when we arrived
here we were driving around looking
for roads that were having issues.
We saw this in the middle of the
road right here this morning,
but of course like the great
good Samaritans that we are.
Photographer Justin Fuller and I moved
this giant branch out of the road.
Unfortunately,
right before we moved this branch,
a truck plowed right through it.
And so we tried to get it away as quick
as we could so that no more cars hit it.
I want to show you.
I want to show you real quick.
This is some video that Justin Fuller
shot before we moved the branch
of it in the middle of the road.
And there were some cars that
were having to slam on their
brakes and they were slipping and
sliding to try and avoid this.
And that's when we made the
decision to put the camera away,
get this out of the road so that
people passing by here would be safe.
But this is the kind of stuff.
You're going to be dealing with this morning.
Hopefully as the ice melts,
that problem goes away.
But there is potential that
more branches could be falling,
power lines could be damaged,
things like that.
So not out of the woods yet,
but it is warming up and
it is getting better.
And one place that it's really warm.
Kudos to you, Marcus took.
You have had the warmth the past three days,
so I'm going to send the warmness
back to you just as you've
had in the past few days.
Thanks so much, Gigi.
I appreciate that, you know,
but I'm an empathetic person,
so I am experiencing.
Coldness to empathize with
you and the rest of the our
crews out there out and about.
Although it is, you know,
like 75 in here.
Hey listen if you.