SHEBOYGAN COUNTY — Tow companies stayed busy Monday, cleaning up stranded cars around Manitowoc and Sheboygan counties after a dangerous travel day.
Amid low visibility, high winds and slick roads, both counties issued a tow ban Sunday, meaning unless it was an emergency no cars would be towed.
Cellphone video sent to TODAY'S TMJ4 showed whiteout conditions on Interstate 43 just north of Sheboygan. One video showed a car collide with a semi-truck. Another video showed a long line of spun-out cars and emergency vehicles responding.
Law enforcement in Manitowoc County reported 70 vehicles landed in a ditch Sunday. Sheboygan County said it had 24.
"I’m ready for this winter to be done," said Matt Raunio, who drove from Green Bay to Sheboygan County on Sunday to pick up his son who slid into a ditch.
He said the drive down was miserable.
"Slippery and whiteout and heavy winds, so you couldn’t see where you were going. I-43 was diverted. I had to look at the telephone poles to try to guess where the road was at times, so it was terrible," said Raunio.
Though conditions were better Monday, abandoned cars littered I-43 and county roads. Adam Janey, a tow truck operator with Bret's Towing in Sheboygan, said as he listened to his scanner Sunday he knew Monday would be busy.
"Slippery and whiteout and heavy winds, so you couldn’t see where you were going. I-43 was diverted. I had to look at the telephone poles to try to guess where the road was at times, so it was terrible." — Matt Raunio, who picked up his son after he landed in a ditch Sunday
"It was nonstop. It was a constant another one in a ditch, another one in a ditch. Go here. Accident here, just constant all day long," said Janey.
