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Brown Co Sheriff thanks residents after blizzard

By Brian Hagen

01/08/2025

Brown County Sheriff John Merchant

(KNZA)--No serious injuries or fatalities occurred in Brown County due to winter storm Blair, with Brown County Sheriff John Merchant saying the County is "blessed" to have avoided any such tragedy during the storm, whose magnitude, he says, hasn't been seen locally for more than 40-years.

In a release issued to express his thanks "to everyone who stepped up to help out during the recent blizzard," Merchant calls it "fortunate to live in a county where people look out after each other" during such emergencies. As an example, Merchant sites Tuesday's blockage of U.S. Highway 36, at the Oregon Street intersection at Hiawatha, when a semi jackknifed, forcing the highway to close for several hours. He says it was the efforts of Hiawatha Implement, which used a tractor to remove the semi, that allowed the highway to reopen. Merchant, saying winter storm Blair caused road conditions that "prohibited some [emergency] responses," gives credit to local farmers who "pitched in with their equipment to get to stranded individuals" when the roads wouldn't allow the official response.

In the release, Merchant also credits the work and efforts of local electrical linemen, emergency workers, dispatchers, jail staff, deputies, and road crews, during the storm.

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