The Board of Morton County Commissioners has declared a state of disaster due to damages suffered from recent severe winter weather.

Several significant storm systems dropped heavy snow and caused excessive drifting due to blizzard conditions. This resulted in poor road conditions, damage to utility infrastructure and, for some residents, a loss of livestock.

The declaration allows Morton County to utilize the County Emergency Fund to finance overtime and contracted assistance to limit the hardships and impact of this disaster upon the citizens of Morton County.

“Our Highway Department staff has done a great job so far as they have been working very long hours trying to keep our roads open and safe,” said Cody Schulz, Morton County Commission Chairman. “However, because of continued snow and winds, keeping roads open has been an almost impossible task, so we are now supplementing our staff with additional contractors. We have to make sure our citizens and emergency responders can travel safely and I thank everyone for their patience so far.”

The declaration also prohibits vehicle parking on designated emergency snow routes in order for road crews to work efficiently. Violators will be towed at the owner’s expense.

In addition to poor road conditions, the telephone and electrical lines throughout the county were coated with a heavy layer of ice and snow, stressed by strong winds and blizzard conditions which caused power outages and blocked rural roads and city streets. Farmers and ranchers also suffered significant consequences to livestock that were stressed or perished from the perilous conditions.