MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Long before the ice arrived, the weather was already taking its toll on the Mid-South.
Multiple wrecks littered Memphis streets in the early evening as temperatures dropped and rain poured.
Early Monday afternoon, a tractor-trailer slid into a retaining wall on Interstate 55 and jack-knifed. Monday evening, a tractor-trailer flipped over on I-40, spilling fuel.
Temperatures also plunged, and Memphians had to adjust.
“It’s pretty darn chilly. It’s so windy out here, I need to get back in the car,” Guion Benkin said.
The City of Memphis was also prepared with brine-filled trucks standing by to treat roads — although they were delayed due to Monday’s rain.
“I know Memphis has always been bad about drivers and cold weather, so hopefully everybody’s safe and stays under control,” driver Benton Garrison said.
The city opened the Lewis Senior Center on North Parkway as a warming center, but by 5 p.m. when it officially opened, no one had showed up.
