‘Stay off I-75.’ Winter storm causes treacherous roads, closures in Warner Robins, Perry

A winter storm blanketed Houston County with snow, leaving treacherous ice underneath and closing schools and non-essential government offices across the county for another day Wednesday.

Residents were urged to stay home and off the roads by multiple public safety agencies from local law enforcement to the Georgia State Patrol and state Department of Transportation.

“Stay off I-75,” reads a city of Perry traffic advisory posted shortly before noon Wednesday on Facebook. “The roads are completely frozen.”

The city of Warner Robins posted updates on road conditions on Facebook:

“Shaded areas are biggest concern, especially on hilly roads,” the 3 p.m. update reads. “Shoulders and turn lanes gathering quite a bit of slush and water from melting snow.”

With temperatures dropping again Wednesday night, those slushy roads could freeze back over, according to the post.

Numerous minor wrecks were reported across the county, with motorists stranded on Interstate 75, according to Chris Stoner, Houston County Emergency Management Agency director.

“The ice is starting to break up a little bit on some of the roads, but it’s still extremely hazardous to be out,” Stoner said early Wednesday. “We’re not expecting a whole lot of thawing today.

“We’ve got crews out trying to do assessments on all the roads and see what we can clear, what we can treat and manage it the best we can. The interstates are pretty much parking lots right now, so we’ve got crews out. GSP has crews going out as well to try to assess all the stranded motorists out there.”

Emergency crews are working their way towards stranded motorists along the interstate but it’s very slow going due to the ice-covered roadways, according to Stoner.

“We’ve had several pileups on the interstate where multiple vehicles were involved, but nothing serious — just enough to block roadways,” Stoner said.

No life-threatening or serious weather-related injuries have been reported, he said.

“We’ve been fortunate,” Stoner said.

Mostly what the county has been dealing with has been the minor auto accidents with all the ice.

“We’ve had probably more cars than I can count that slid off the road into the ditch throughout the evening and that’s scattered all around the county,” he said.

When will ice thaw in Houston County?

By late Thursday afternoon, road conditions had much improved across the county, according to a Houston County EMA post on Facebook.

“We have seen a tremendous amount of thawing today and most of our roadways are clearing,” the 4 p.m. post reads. “There are still several areas that have slush and ice especially in shaded spots.

“These areas will refreeze tonight and create patches of ice. Please use caution when driving tonight and tomorrow as some of these areas may be difficult to see. Based on what we have seen today we are hopeful that warming tomorrow should resolve the majority of the remaining icy areas. As always, just use caution and take it slow.”

An average of 1 to 3 inches of snow was reported Wednesday across Houston County, according to an interactive map from the National Weather Service.

But pockets of snow accumulation may have been as high as 5.3 inches in Perry and 4.5 inches at Robins Air Force Base, according to another NWS interactive map of snow over the past 24 hours.

The National Weather Service is projecting some improvement on roadways across the state Wednesday afternoon, but with freezing temperatures again overnight, “shaded or untreated surfaces will likely remain an issue again Thursday morning.”

With the potential for icy road conditions Thursday morning, Houston County schools will remain closed on Thursday, the school district posted on Facebook.

Wednesday closings included all Houston Healthcare outpatient clinics except the Lake Joy Med-Stop, according to a Houston Healthcare Facebook post. Emergency rooms in Warner Robins and Perry are open 24/7.

Multiple restaurants and business also closed across the county, such as Chick-fil-A restaurants and Mrs. Betty’s Fried Chicken in Warner Robins and the Oil Lamp Restaurant and the Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter in Perry.

Warming shelter

The warming center at No Limit Baptist Church, 1352 Radio Loop, in Warner Robins is open to provide food and overnight shelter to the homeless.

If you see someone in need, call Warner Robins police Code Enforcement Officer Brian Wise at 478-538-5115 or Pastor Vince Harrington at 786-286-4457. Transportation to the church starts at 6 p.m.

This story was originally published January 22, 2025 at 12:38 PM.