ALFRED — Snowplow drivers were out in force throughout York County on Thursday and expected to be clearing the roads of snow well into today.

A nor’easter dropped upward of 10 inches or more of snow on various parts of the region, prompting cancellations to start rolling in Wednesday night.

On South Street in Biddeford around 11:30 a.m., a vehicle left the roadway and plunged into a pond. The driver, a North Waterboro woman, and her passenger were treated and released from Southern Maine Health Care.

York County Sheriff Bill King said there were numerous slide-offs and at least one crash where an individual was taken to hospital. No further information was available on that crash.

Schools across the county were closed  for the day Thursday — with a number of districts making the call Wednesday night. Some municipal offices, like Biddeford and Sanford, closed for non-essential personnel at noon Thursday. All York County courts were closed, as were county government offices.

Not all had the day off. While crews were out plowing, police and emergency medical personnel were busy answering calls and corner store clerks were keeping the coffee fresh, at Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford, two women were in labor during the height of the storm.

Spokeswoman Leslie Roberts couldn’t say more due to confidentially rules, but it seemed that storm or not, new lives were to emerge into the world on Thursday.

At the Alfred division of the Maine Department of Transportation, plow trucks had already loaded up and were headed out on the road early, within an hour of the snowfall at 8 a.m.

The Alfred division plows Alfred to Biddeford and Alfred to Cornish, and the state roads in the rural communities in between. Crew leader Bill McNulty said drivers would be on hand for the duration — well into today. The Alfred crew, like many others in the state transportation department, is down several drivers.

At Biddeford Public Works, Assistant Director Carl Marcotte said crews salted around 8 a.m. Thursday, then starting plowing and hour or so later that day.

“It’s relatively light snow and easy to push,” he said at mid-day Thursday. “It’s just that it’s coming down faster than we can plow it.”

Marcotte pointed out that with the amount of snow forecast, most of the public works crew’s efforts are on the main thoroughfares.

“A lot the sides streets don’t get done as fast as we would like them to, but we need to focus our efforts on the main roads for emergency personnel,” he pointed out.

While the persistent snowfall made for difficult travel, some were looking ahead to the weekend, when at long last, the trails might be ready for snowmobiling.

Chrissy McGinley, president of the Ossipee Mountaineers Snowmobile Club in Waterboro, said members have been doing a figurative “snow dance” in anticipation of riding, at long last.

The 2014-1015 winter was a banner one for snowmobile enthusiasts, but  the 2015-2016 season was a bust. Then came December 2016,  and hope, when two feet of snow fell.

“It was wonderful, but then it rained,” said McGinley.

Tuesday’s snowfall this week gave the trails a good base, and Thursday’s snowfall is the icing on the cake. McGinley said groomers will wait 12-24 hours before using machines to groom the trails, and by the weekend, club members should be ready to go.

The club has about 50 miles of trails, and upwards of 80 members.

Snowmobilers may get more snow than the bargained for. Forecasters say there is snow in the forecast for Saturday and are eyeing another major storm Sunday evening into Monday.

As to the school closures, some superintendents, like David Theoharides in Sanford, made their decision to close schools Thursday on Wednesday night.

Theoharides said he consulted with the district’s contracted meteorologist for advice, consulted the National Weather Service, and made the call at about 8 p.m.

Getting students to school on Thursday wasn’t’t expected to be the problem — it was getting them home again.

“It made sense to make the call (Wednesday) night,” said Theoharides. In his six-year tenure as Sanford’s superintendent, Theoharides said only twice had he made the closure call the night before a forecast storm.

As of mid-afternoon Thursday, emergency medical crews with Sanford Fire Department were busy as usual, answering medical calls —  but not with car crash injuries, according to an official. As of 2 p.m., they hadn’t had to respond to a single car crash.

In Biddeford, Deputy Police Chief JoAnne Fisk said aside from the South Street crash, there had been a few minor fender benders, but no injuries.

She urged folks to check on their elderly neighbors.

“You don’t want elderly out there shoveling,” she said. “Be kind to your neighbors, especially the elderly.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com. Staff Writer Alan Bennett contributed to this report.