(Radio Iowa) – Iowa roads that were knee-deep in snow and ice just a matter of days ago are quickly becoming moonscapes, as fender-rattling potholes are suddenly making our streets and highways a challenging obstacle course.

Bob Ellis, the Iowa Department of Transportation’s District 1 maintenance manager, says DOT crews are fanned out across the state, filling in those car-jarring craters as fast as they find them.

“Right now, we’re putting in what we call a cold mix. It’s a blend of rock chips, oil and some sand that we put in it temporarily to fill the hole,” Ellis says, “and then in the spring, we’ll come back and do more of a permanent fix, whether it be oil and rock chips to fill it in, or a permanent more full-depth or partial-depth patch.” Those springtime fixes are done with what’s known as a HMA or hot mix asphalt — and with concrete.

Ellis was asked to characterize the current condition of Iowa’s roads. “I would say they’re decent, as in normal Iowa roads,” Ellis says. “Now that we’ve got warm this week, so it’s pothole season again. Maybe in a week or two, we might be back in winter season again, I’m not sure, but they’re in decent shape, they’re not terrible.”

Some DOT officials can spout a litany of figures during the wintertime as to the hundreds of tons of salt and thousands of gallons of brine being spread on our roads, so a natural question to Ellis is, how many potholes do they fill in a week, a month or a year?

“I don’t even have that number. It’s a lot,” Ellis says. “Because we’re trying to get them fixed so quickly, I don’t track that right now.”

Hitting a large pothole at high speed may jar something loose in your molars as well as in your car’s suspension. If you can’t avoid one of the concrete chasms, Ellis was asked if there’s a proper procedure for going through a pothole.

“While there is no good way, I mean obviously, we don’t want them to swerve into another lane, so grip the steering wheel tight and get through it, and hopefully it doesn’t cause any damage,” Ellis says, “and if it does, we have a Claims Department they can contact.”

You can also report potholes on the interstates, Iowa numbered routes, and U.S. highways to the Iowa DOT’s maintenance manager located nearest the problem roadway. Find a list of contacts HERE.

(Hamburg, Iowa) – Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope says a 77-year-old Hamburg resident died Thursday evening, after he was struck by a passing pickup truck. The accident happened at around 6:06-p.m., near the intersection of Main Street and E Street. in Hamburg. The resident was carrying items to his vehicle from a local community center when he was struck. The man, whose identity was being withheld, pending notification of family, died from his injuries at a nearby hospital.

The driver of the vehicle, a 2001 Ford F-150, was identified as 77-year-old Nancy Bartles, of Rock Port, Missouri. Bartles was uninjured.

The incident remains under investigation by the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office. Hamburg Fire and Rescue responded to the call.

(Underwood, Iowa) – An SUV was engulfed in flames Wednesday afternoon near the Underwood Co-Op. KJAN listener/social media follower Zach Ploen reports the incident took place at around 3-p.m.  The vehicle was about 50-feet from the gas pumps, when a gas leak under the SUV sparked the fire.

Crews from the Underwood Fire Department and Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the scene. No injuries were reported.

Photos courtesy of Zach Ploen.