BREAKING NEWS: DelDOT, motorists dealing with impact of winds

High winds create downed trees, power lines, traffic snarls power outages

As high winds created problems throughout the state on Saturday, Feb. 19, about 100 DelDOT employees were working to clear debris, fix stoplights and help power companies restore power.

Overall, motorists should drive with caution, aware that there could be non-functioning stoplights, downed signs and debris in the roads, officials said.

Statewide, these are the issues:

* Downed trees that have taken down power lines and telephone poles.  On I-95 Northbound, the exit for Martin Luther King Boulevard was closed Saturday afternoon as crews cleared a telephone pole that had fallen into the roadway. Because that power line had gone down, about six stoplights were not functioning.
* Many stoplights are not operating because of power outages or because of wind damage to the stoplights themselves. DelDOT signal technicians are working in every county, officials said.
* There are signs in the roadways, including some larger overhead signs.

"We cannot give exact locations of most problems, because right now the the situation is very fluid, as the winds continue to cause problems," officials noted.

DelDOT is also working shoulder to shoulder with power companies and law enforcement to restore power, by assisting them with traffic control, and clearing debris.