LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Winter weather has hit the Little Rock metro, covering roads and forcing people to stay home.
For plow drivers like Gene Derline, today was worse than he thought it would be, especially when factor in the warm temperatures that we saw earlier this week.
"All of a sudden, the weather drops as much as it did. I really didn't think it was going to be this bad," Derline said.
He's been working on clearing roads since early Thursday morning.
"It looks like we'll probably be out tomorrow again. 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.," Derline said.
Crews are trying their best but working on the roads has been tough, especially in Little Rock, where they're still covered.
"Most guys who work for the city, we get what we're out here for," Earnest Smith, Derline's co-worker said. "I don't complain. Most of our guys don't complain, because this is our duty."
But, it could be days before Little Rock roads are completely clear.
"Hopefully the streets will really improve after lunch tomorrow when we get a little break in the sun. Get some sunshine on it and get above freezing temperatures for a little bit," Eric Petty, operations manager for Little Rock Public Works said.
Petty said there's a very easy way you can help crews clear roads faster – stay home.
"There could still be a lot of ice still on the roads, hopefully it'll be a lot better than today," Petty said. "Today the roads are still slick, so please stay off of them if at all possible."
Thankfully, many have. Petty said that's made the roads easier to work on and with crews like Derline and Smith out there too, they've been running at full staff.
"Right now we're still running at max capacity. We got 17 trucks with plows and we also have a motor grader. All the crews are here, so as of right now, things are going as best as they can," Petty said.
So if you can stay home – you should. It'll help keep you safe and help crews as well.
"Even if I put the plow down on the ground, that's not going to slow that truck down one bit," Derline said. "So the best thing for people to do is stay off the roads as much as they can."