What the Kentucky Transportation Department called it "the biggest snow storm in ten years" swept across Western Kentucky early last Wednesday and left Christmas travelers stranded by the thousands along Interstate 24. With driving conditions approaching the dangerous level by Wednesday afternoon, Keith Todd of the District One Department in Paducah advised that a tractor trailer truck had overturned in the west bound lane of I-24 just north of Cadiz at mile marker 59

That was at 2:25 p.m.

Emergency workers began to shut down the major transportation route, but not before a second truck had become involved in the accident. As wreckers headed for the wreck, cars began to back up along the Interstate about the same time as the snowstorm intensified.

At just after 4:30 p.m. Todd advised that the wreck had been cleared and one lane of traffic was open. However, because of the delay, snowdrifts made driving almost impossible and emergency workers began to prepare for the worse.

Trigg County’s Emergency Manager Randy Wade said volunteers began gathering up blankets and opening up the Trigg County High School for a shelter. Another shelter, located at the Blue Spring’s Baptist church was also opened.

Wade said about 130 travelers were housed at the high school gym and that area motels had people staying in their lobbies and up and down the hallways.

"You know Trigg County is," Wade said Monday. "It’s such a wonderful place to live. It’s impossible to name everyone who helped during this emergency."

Convenience stores and gas stations near both the Cadiz exits were virtually sold out of food and snack items and several gasoline stations in the area quickly sold out of fuel.

On Thursday, volunteers on four wheelers transported food and gasoline to motorists who were still stranded in snowdrifts along the Interstate where some travelers were abandoned for up to 22 hours before help could arrive.

Members of the National Guard were called to the scene and they brought with them two humvees and two large wreckers to help clear the roads.

State workers were hampered by regulations that prevented them from working the long hours needed to keep the roads clear.

"We’re still out," Wade said of the Trigg County Rescue Squad. "There are still people that need to go to dialysis and we have been transporting them." He said the volunteers are also transporting medical personnel to the Trigg County Hospital as well as area nursing homes.

Although most of the major highways have been cleared of the eight or nine inches of snow and ice, Wade cautioned that rural roadways are still dangerous.

"You may be on a road that seems alright and then you turn a corner and there is a sheet of ice," Wade said. "You still need to be cautious because the back roads are still dangerous."

There were some bright spots in the storm.

While stranded along the Interstate, at least two groups of people passed the time building snowmen in the median.

A family from Florida pulling a U-Haul trailer slept at the high school while their two young children played outside. "It was the first time they had ever seen snow," Wade said, "and they were having a ball making snow angels and everything."