Icy roads caused by the storm that pummeled Charleston Tuesday evening caused several drivers to slide off roads in the city, many of which damaged city property.

Two stops signs and a street sign were knocked down as a result of drivers sliding off the road.

Charleston Public Works departments repair crews are currently in the processing of repairing these damages.

According to a member of the Charleston Public Works department accidents like this “always” happen when there is ice on the streets.

Charleston Fire Chief Kris Phipps said there was only one car accident the fire department responded to in the last few days that was a direct result of the ice.

He said the accident occurred Wednesday morning when a car slid into the guardrail on River Hill on Route 16.

Phipps said he was surprised by the lack of car accidents they responded to as a result of the ice since there are usually several accidents caused by icy conditions like those seen Tuesday night.

“Usually when you’ve had a mild winter like this and you see a patch of weather like we had [Tuesday night] you see at least a couple accidents caused by the ice,” he said.

While there was only one reported accident caused by the weather, the threat it posed caused many people to stay off the road.

As a result of the sleet, ice and winds several Mattoon and Charleston school basketball games and other local events, such as a candidate forum sponsored by the Coles County League of Women Voters, were canceled.

Even though several trees and tree limbs were damaged by the ice and winds, no power outages were reported within the city.

While Charleston saw instances of damage from the storm, Mattoon was seemingly not greatly affected by the ice and wind.

Debbie Crean, administrative assistant for the Mattoon department of public works, said their office had received no reports of damage as a result of the storm.

Charleston and Mattoon were hit by the same severe winter weather that has battered most of the Midwest for the past week and may be in store for more tonight.

The National Weather Service forecasts that similar weather conditions will hit Charleston again tonight, saying there is a 100 percent chance of precipitation and predicting between five and nine inches of snow might accumulate over the course of the evening.

Jordan Crook can be reached at 581- 7495 or at jscrook@eiu.edu.