As lake-effect snow slams Northwest Indiana, some cities are running low on road salt
Communities in northwestern Indiana were bearing the brunt of a significant snowstorm hitting the Chicago area on Friday night.
It was just the latest punch in an already busy winter season, and it came as the region deals with salt shortages.
Hobart Public Works Director Kent Moore said he's confident in tackling this weekend's storms, but salt shortages have his crews being cautious about using the vital resource on area roads.
"It's going to be an interesting night, you know?" he said.
Moore has 14 salt trucks and 10 plow trucks ready to go, but as February approaches, a key ingredient in maintaining roads is running low.
Hobart started the season with about 2,500 tons of salt, but is down to 100 to 150 tons.
"Now, of course, we're running into some issues with our salt suppliers, as the whole Midwest and the country is at this point," Moore said.
While Moore is hopeful for another shipment to arrive soon, he's been forced to adapt by mixing in beet juice and sand with the salt.
Moore said the biggest help would come from Mother Nature.
"We need to get the temperatures up, you know? We get the temperatures up, we can have a little bit more success with this right now, but we're just going to keep chugging along and try to keep the residents as safe as we can," he said.
Other cities in northwest Indiana, like Gary and Michigan City, said they were able to secure salt supplies ahead of this storm, but continue to monitor use as there's still a long way to go in this season.
The salt shortage has been caused by a long season of severe snowfall around the country, supply chain issues, and unusually high demand.