A winter storm walloped Missouri at the end of last week, then headed east, killing 13 people and setting snowfall records in some parts of its path.Three people in Missouri were reported killed in weather-related car accidents in Carrollton and Clinton.In 48 hours, from midnight Friday to midnight Sunday, the Warren County Ambulance District took 34 calls and eight were motor vehicle accidents, said Chief Jeff Flake.None of the accidents caused life-threatening or serious injuries, Flake said, “but some with moderate injuries definitely needed to be transported to the hospital.”In Warren County, the storm arrived before 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11. Schools were dismissed early, as were many businesses. An early warning from the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) encouraged drivers to leave early to avoid rush hour backups. Another warning came to stay off the roads if drivers didn’t need to be out, for safety, traffic flow and because plows needed space to remove snow.“The issue we faced was with the motoring public not heeding warnings to stay off the road,” said Warren County Emergency Management Director Mike Daniels.“MoDOT needs a good eight to 10 hours to do their job. It hinders them when you have vehicles stuck on the road and they can’t get their plows around them,” Daniels said.Tow trucks were in high demand, and overwhelmed. There were reports of slide-offs. Large trucks looking for alternative routes or shortcuts, made turns onto unplowed, two-lane roads. When they got stuck, they blocked traffic, said Daniels.But no single location caused more trouble than another.“We had a tremendous amount of snow thrown at us and we had a significant number of cars on the road during the height of the storm,” said Warren County Sheriff Kevin Harrison. “Anywhere people were driving, there were calls.”Harrison said the sheriff’s department received calls from noon Friday until midday Saturday. They responded to about 50 incidents of motorists needing some type of assistance. He said most of them were vehicles sliding off the road. Other calls were about vehicles being stuck on the road or stuck motorists running low on fuel.MoDOT plows interstates first. Less traveled roads are plowed last. Harrison said unmovable vehicles stopped other vehicles from getting by. A few roads were closed temporarily, including State Highways 47 and TT.“If you don’t have to be on the road, don’t be. A trip isn’t worth your life,” Harrison said.Although every winter some forecasts might be off by inches or degrees, Daniels said forecasts for the winter storm in Missouri were mostly accurate.“I was on a conference call with the National Weather Service. They were very adamant we were going to get 7-8 inches minimum and pockets were going to get more than that,” Daniels said.“I’m hearing areas of Warren County got anywhere between 10 to 14 inches, some got 8 inches, depending on where you’re located,” Daniels said.“I think our first responders did an excellent job of handling calls. There was a delayed response, because they were overwhelmed with calls, and they had to prioritize.”The Warren County and Wright City school districts were closed Monday and were on snow routes Tuesday.Snow will be around for a while, which creates other hazards. Flake said the ambulance district was going on fall calls shortly after the snow stopped falling.“People need to be careful with the snow and ice. Broken hips, broken arms, head injuries, all of that can happen from a single fall,” Flake said.He added that shoveling snow poses another risk. Take breaks to avoid overexertion, he said, or are at risk for heart disease.Statewide the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported taking 4,000 calls for service. Troopers responded to some 900 crashes and 1,800 stranded motorists.On Interstate 44 in Eureka, motorists were stranded in their cars, some for as long as 12 hours.The National Weather Service is forecasting dropping temperatures and various amounts of rain, ice and snow for Friday and Saturday (Jan. 18-19).Daniels said people should monitor local, updated weather reports on radio and TV. Besides that, “Make sure you have a full tank of gas, fully charged cellphone battery, shovel, flashlight, warm clothes . . . Anything you would need that if you were stranded for hours you could take care of yourself.”Winter snowstormRecord photo/Derrick Forsythe