Hailstorm leads to U.S. 2 crashes

Heavy hail contributed to two crashes and shut down portions of U.S. 2 near Martin City and Hungry Horse Thursday afternoon.

Trooper David Mills responded to the first crash at 12:45 p.m. on U.S. 2 near Martin City. Mills said the driver of a Toyota Forerunner lost control during a burst of big falling hailstones.

“The lead vehicle lost control and spun twice, and the vehicle that was behind it was unable to stop,” Mills said.

The two occupants of the second vehicle were not wearing their seat belts and had bumps on their heads as a result, Mills said. The pair refused treatment. The driver of the Forerunner was not injured.

“Given the conditions, no one was cited, except for the second-vehicle occupants for not wearing a seat belt,” Mills said.

Road conditions and accident cleanup meant traffic was slowed to 10 to 25 miles per hour for about an hour.

Just as that accident scene cleared, Mills was dispatched to a single-vehicle crash in Hungry Horse involving an eastbound driver.

“The driver, she lost control on the slush and slid into the guardrail,” Mills said. “The vehicle became disabled and blocked the westbound lane.”

The driver was uninjured.

“We had a couple large bands of hailstorms come through the area,” Mills said. “At one point there was about an inch of small hail balls on the ground at the first crash. It was impressive how fast it was coming down.”

It took a half-hour to clear the westbound lanes.

Mills said the crashes serve as a reminder to drive extra carefully when the roads are wet or icy.