COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) —
- Video shows a man making a delivery in the snow and wind, a guest and manager at the Fairfield Inn in Council Bluffs where travelers and truckers are waiting out the storm.
- Not everyone gets the luxury of staying home in bad weather — some folks have to work no matter what happens. Reporter Katrina Markel talked to Marlon Wright, who owns an Omaha area delivery company, as he was making a delivery of medicine to the Walmart pharmacy in Council Bluffs. She also talked to a hotel manager who spent the night in the hotel so that she could be there to care for people and the business during the snowstorm.
- Marlon Wright: “Driving if you’re experienced, it’s good. But if you’re not, you know, I'd say stay off the road. Leave it up to the people who do that for a living.”
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I’m in the Manawa shopping area of Council Bluffs and I'm doing this from inside my car because i’ve been out a bit today and it is just so cold and so miserable -- It’s not worth being outside for more than a few minutes. I’m your southwest iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel and there are people who do have to be outside today and people who have to go to work despite the bad weather and i spoke with some of them.
Katrina Markel: “Are you freezing today?”
Marlon Wright: " Yeah, it’s a big day but it’s part of the job, so...”
Marlon Wright owns a delivery company and transports medication to local pharmacies and hospitals. People have to get their prescriptions regardless of weather.
Wright: “Driving if you’re experienced, it’s good. But if you’re not, you know, I'd say stay off the road. Leave it up to the people who do that for a living.”
Deadrick Mayberry does drive for a living. He’s a trucker from Illinois heading to the west coast and decided to stay put in Council Bluffs — too much risk.
Mayberry: “Not just only your job, not just only your CDL but your life ... we came through Peoria and I seen trucks on the side of the road — layin’ in ditches. Then we went to Des Moines — I seen trucks lying on the road. Cars, bent over, turnt over backwards, you know.”
Mary Rutherford is the assistant general manager at the Fairfield Inn in the Lake Manawa area by the interstate. Deadrick told me he appreciated her hospitality.
Rutherford: “I came in last night just before six.”
She said she’s only stayed overnight at the hotel one other time.
Rutherford: “We did get a lot of people coming in because of the weather, they couldn’t travel any further, and a lot of people extend their stays because of the weather.”
Not everyone on her staff could make it to work, so she’s doing several jobs to keep the hotel running and her guests, like Deadrick safe until they can hit the road again.
On the south side of Council Bluffs, I'm your southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter, Katrina Markel
