Parts of Elkhart hit with some of the most snowfall; Residents start digging out

ELKHART, Ind. --- The Elkhart area experienced some of the highest snowfall readings on Tuesday after the first winter storm hit beginning on Monday.

Some areas of Elkhart measured at 18 inches of snow.

Residents living in Elkhart told ABC 57 that the roads were slick, but with road preparations, the main city streets were relatively clear.

“Slower than normal traveling and a little bit slippery…that’s about it,” said Ron Warlick, Resident of Elkhart County.

“Yesterday they were a little slick,” said Matt Stoll, Resident of Elkhart. “I haven’t done too much this morning, but I went out to scrape some cars and there was about a foot and a half of snow in the middle, so I’m sure that was fun,” said Stoll.

For most residents, driving on the roads has not been the biggest problem. Instead, residents told ABC 57 that brushing off cars and shoveling out sidewalks was the biggest challenge.

“Probably 6 inches on top of it, took a while to get down to the windshield,” said Stoll.

“About 5 o’clock this morning, I was plowing out the drive, so I was up before most of my neighbors,” said Warlick.

While main city streets remained relatively clear throughout Tuesday, side streets and residential areas were covered in snow.

ABC 57 spoke to a woman who lives just near the water in Elkhart and spent over an hour clearing the sidewalk in front of her home.

“Probably about 45 minutes the first time and probably about 30 minutes this time,” Tina Ashe, Elkhart Resident.

While the city cleared most main sidewalks and roads, a local business owner spent time Tuesday shoveling out the remainder of the snow for her customers and hoped for a warm spell.

“There was quite a bit on the edges,” said Kelly Regier, Store Owner in Elkhart. “And then I tried to clear a path so cars could get over the curb there too so, it was quite a bit,” said Regier.

A couple visiting Elkhart from California left for vacation on Thursday when it was sunny and 75 at home, but this morning woke up to their car covered in snow.

“It was covered,” said Carmen Simon. “I can show you, it was totally covered. It was still snowing when we were uncovering it,” said Simon.

Al Simon, Carmen’s husband, grew up in Elkhart and is back in town to visit.

While roads in Elkhart cleared up, even without snow, low temperatures can make roads slick. Officials advised drivers to drive slowly and plan for extra time to get to a destination.

Travis Snyder, Elkhart Police Sergeant, told ABC 57 that there were a total of 12 accidents and 17 slide-offs or breakdowns between the hours of 7 p.m. Monday evening and 8 a.m. Tuesday morning.