By Troy Turner
When popular Alabama weatherman James Spann speaks and warns of imminent danger, the Alabama National Guard listens.
During the early morning hours of Jan. 15, Spann issued a winter storm warning as Alabama’s coldest weather of the 2023-24 winter season marched its way toward the state in the form of an Arctic blast.
He warned that dangerous winter conditions could eventually cover most of the state, from its northern border south all the way to Mobile. “This will have potential to bring a glaze of ice to bridges and some road surfaces as Arctic air plunges southward,” Spann said.
And, true to his forecast, freezing rain and snow soon turned many of Alabama’s northern highways such as Interstate 65 into a travel nightmare, causing numerous accidents and stranding motorists.
The Alabama Army and Air National Guard in response to earlier warnings and ahead of the storm activated five Mobility Support Teams to assist the state’s Department of Transportation in assisting affected travelers and affected communities.
“Soldiers? Active. Trucks? Prepared. Guard? Ready,” the Guard posted on one of its social media sites. “We have teams staged across northern and central Alabama to respond to the anticipated winter storm. We’re ready.
“We’re #ALwaysReady.”
Members of the Guard teams called to action prepared themselves and their support vehicles for the severe winter conditions and then responded with rescues, assistance to hard-hit municipalities and rural communities, help to clear roads of stranded vehicles and provided help to motorists in finding their way safely back to travel where conditions allowed.
“Over 330 Guardsmen worked through the night to aid drivers on I-65 and are continuing efforts today to provide assistance,” the Guard reported on Jan. 16.
The teams stood down on Jan. 20.
“Under direction of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, our mobility support teams have returned home. During the winter storm, more than 300 Alabama National Guard Soldiers and Airmen conducted over 5,400 miles of route reconnaissance and clearance.”
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Troy Turner is the editor and senior consultant for AlaDefense.com. He can be contacted at [email protected].
