400 Crashes, 50 Hurt on Minnesota Roads Due to Winter Storm

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - Sunday's snow storm makes Monday travel trying, despite the holiday.. FOX 9's Tom Halden takes to the metro roads, where up to 17 inches of powder fell and hundreds of vehicles crashed.

More than 400 crashes -- 50+ causing injuries -- and nearly 700 vehicles in the ditch occurred on Minnesota roads since the first flakes fell. Over 11 inches of snow fell in a 24-hour period, that is an all-time state record.

MnDOT advises against travel if you can help it, and it's plow crews are rotating 12-hour shifts to clear roadways.

The Regions Hospital Emergency Center has treated 55 patients since Sunday as a result of snow/weather related incidents, mostly slips and falls -- though at least one heart attack was suffered while a resident was shoveling.  Many more injuries are expected to have occurred, as these numbers are from just one metro area hospital.

In two seaprate incidents, two state troopers were injured while investigating accidents on Minnesota highways. One officer was struck while outside his squad car in Minneapolis and another was clipped by a semi in St. Cloud. Both suffered minor or non-life threatening injuries.