With winter weather coming through Iowa last night and today, there are some safety reminders for motorists.

Greene County Sheriff Jack Williams urges everyone to stay off the roads, but says if you have to travel, make sure you have plenty of water, blankets, a fully charged cell phone, non-perishable food items, extra batteries and that your vehicle has a full tank of gas in case you slide your vehicle into a ditch.

“We’re not going to come and get you right away. You’re probably going to have to sit for several hours to wait for daylight or until a calm during the storm that we can come out and get you.”

He offers this advice that if your vehicle is stuck in a ditch and you notice blowing snow starting to drift around the vehicle.

“Just get out long enough to make sure that your exhaust pipe is clear of snow and it’s not getting plugged with it. But if you are in a true medical emergency, please call, let us know where you’re at, and we’ll try and get to you. But it does take a long time to get to people to get them out of the ditch.”

Williams says to call 911 if you are in an emergency situation, otherwise you can call the non-emergency number to the law enforcement center in Jefferson at 515-386-2136.