LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 6, 2013) — Winter weather’s coming and Lexington is ready, Mayor Jim Gray said this morning at a news conference to discuss the city’s preparations for this weekend’s storm.
“Our city’s great meteorologists have done their best to make sure everyone knows Ole Man Winter is coming. They’ve drilled down into their models to predict when the storm will hit and how much snow or ice we will get,” Gray said. “We’re targeting the resources we have with the goal of making our community as safe as possible.”
The city has:
♦ Put its road crews and the 46 trucks it has available for snow and ice work on a round-the-clock work schedule to monitor, treat and clear roads.
♦ Assigned additional police officers and firefighters and more are available, if needed.
♦ Ensured emergency shelters are open and available for those who are homeless.
♦ In the event of a serious ice storm, made plans to keep streets clear of falling limbs and restore power outages.
Lexington residents can help by staying off the roads when the weather is bad. “If you have to get out on the roads, drive cautiously and leave plenty of stopping distance between your car and the car in front of you,” Gray said. It is unlikely he will have to declare a snow emergency, but if so, citizens need to make sure they are not parked on a snow emergency route, he said. The snow route information is available at lexingtonky.gov/snowplan.
In the event of a snow emergency, the city will also use reverse 9-1-1 to notify citizens who are registered in Smart 9-1-1. Register at lexingtonky.gov/smart911.
Lexington is well aware ice can cause problems with limbs falling into the streets and power outages, Gray said.
“We will clear the streets and work closely with Kentucky Utilities to ensure power is restored as quickly as possible,” he said.
“We’ve been monitoring the weather situation for several days to get an indicator of what we may have to face,” said Cliff Feltham, spokesman for Kentucky Utilities. “We are staffed 100 percent and have contacted companion utility companies assessing their ability to provide additional resources in the event we need them.” More information on power outages is available at lge-ku.com/storm.
People in need of emergency shelter at any time over the weekend can go to the Hope Center for Men at 360 West Loudon Ave. in Lexington, the Salvation Army for Women and Children at 736 West Main St. or the MASH Drop Inn Emergency Shelter for Youth at 536 W. Third St.
People in need of shelter or other human service assistance may call 2-1-1. For emergencies, as always, call 9-1-1.
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