By Jim Hannah and Brenna R. Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Bob Hendryx of West Chester escaped injury when his car flipped on Ravine Street near Central Parkway on Thursday afternoon. (Glenn Hartong photo)

Ice, snow and cat food snarled traffic on Greater Cincinnati's interstates Thursday afternoon, and at least one person - possibly two - were seriously hurt.

"We had a string of accidents," said Tim Schoch, deputy program manager for ARTIMIS, the region's traffic-management agency. "The wrecks were scattered throughout the region. Most were weather-related, either patches of ice or snow-covered roads. Others appeared to have nothing to do with weather."

One of the more serious weather-related crashes happened around 2:30 p.m., as snow was falling.

Following a crash just east of Amelia, a medical helicopter flew Debra J. Black, 42, of Amelia, to University Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition.

Black's 1993 Mercury Topaz was eastbound on Ohio 125 when a westbound snowplow truck struck a reflector in the pavement. The 41/2-pound reflector flew through Black's windshield and struck her. Her vehicle then went off the road and struck a tree.

The driver of the Ohio Department of Transportation truck, Charles E. Current, 42, of Georgetown, was examined at Clermont Mercy Hospital.

Another serious crash happened around 10:30 a.m., before snowfall began.

A man lost control of his car on Interstate 71/75 southbound, struck a guardrail, then crossed into the path of a tractor-trailer; the collision pushed the vehicle into a concrete wall, police said.

The truck's driver, Doug Place of Ross, Ohio, was uninjured.

The car's driver was taken to University Hospital. His name and condition were unavailable.

By 11:30 a.m., authorities had reopened two lanes of the interstate. By 2 p.m., traffic was backed up to the 12th Street exit in Covington.

Just after the accident, snow blanketed many back roads motorists were using as alternate routes.

All lanes of the interstate reopened by afternoon rush hour.

"We had dozens of reported wrecks today," said Boone County Sheriff's Deputy Tom Scheben. "We were swamped for a few hours."

Boone County officials responded to two overturned trucks, but neither of those wrecks caused serious injuries.

An overturned tractor-trailer carrying cat food closed the exit from Interstate 71 onto I-71/75 north in Boone County around 9 a.m.

That wreck closed the road for a short time as road crews cleared cat food from the road.

The second overturned truck closed I-71 near the weigh station in Boone County.

Scheben said a tractor-trailer traveling north on I-71 crossed the median and flipped over in the southbound lanes after braking suddenly to avoid a car that had slowed as the snow began to fall.

Cars swerved off roads and fender-benders were reported throughout the region.

There also was an eight-car pileup on the northbound lanes of I-71 near Stewart Road in Cincinnati, along with numerous wrecks on Interstate 471 between the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge and Interstate 275 in Campbell County.

Janice Morse contributed to this story. E-mail jhannah@enquirer.com and bkelly@enquirer.com