Brothers help push cars out of pile-up caused by winter storm
By Beth Carlson
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OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — As many streets remained icy following winter storms in Omaha, several “neighborhood heroes” took to pushing cars out of snowbanks and ice after several pileups on Pratt Street in North Omaha.
The hilly block between 40th and 41st streets was a sheet of ice Saturday afternoon, causing repeated crashes where drivers lost control of their vehicles. Despite a number of vehicles with damage, neighbors say everyone walked away from the crash safely.
“I’ve had wrecks before, but nothing in the winter like this. This is insane. This is the second one. The first wreck had three cars involved, and then not 20 minutes later, four or five cars are wrecked in front of my house,” homeowner Lacey said.
One driver says she was slowing down as she drove down the hill, but said she lost control when she hit ice. Her vehicle slammed into another car, which then was hit again when more cars became involved.
“They’re driving like it’s a normal day, like there’s no ice the way that if you were standing down there and you’ve seen the way that they hit in the impact and how fast they were going, there was no way of stopping it,” Jay Barrett said.
Brothers Dauntae, Jaxxon and Donovan said they ran outside after hearing one crash.
“Just making Hot Pockets. And then out of nowhere, we just hear: boom! So, we jump up, forget the Hot Pockets,” Dauntae said. “We’ve been outside since, like, 10 a.m., just helping people.”
Nina Ahlf said she got a call that her car had been hit while parked on Pratt Street. When she came by to look at the damage, she said she witnessed another pile-up.
“As I’m trying, the first car comes down and hits the red vehicle. And then the second car and then the third, and then the Jeep comes down. And that’s the one that caused a lot of damage. They hit one car and then swung and hit the light pole, and the light poles busted,” Ahlf said.
She said the brothers helped her dig her parked car out of the snowbank. The family also invited drivers inside to warm up after spending hours in the snow.
“They needed a house. We gave them water. Make sure everybody was good. I got everybody warm until the cops figured everything out. And we just sat out there with the entire street,” Dauntae said.
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