How the city of Raleigh is preparing for a second round of winter weather
Yeah I'm Lieutenant David Davis
That's D A V I D D A V I
S and I work for the Raleigh Police Department's public
affairs office
Um I guess tell us how preparations are going right
now
This is a back to back
Yeah this is back to back back to back weekends
Um obviously we are putting a lot of preparations in
place working with our partners here at the city uh
just making sure that we're we're prepared and that our
officers have what they need to be able to serve
the community members throughout the weekend uh make sure they
have extra flares make sure we have some extra staffing
available
Uh again they might open up that
Emergency operations center which will help us kind of coordinate
with other departments making sure we get the cleanup underway
so we can kind of get everything back in order
for Monday and not getting everybody back to work
Could you recap I guess like the type of response
last weekend in terms of like call volumes or like
how um like what were some of the challenges Yeah
I'll be honest with you uh the governor issue in
that state of emergency just like he has for this
weekend I think that was a big help for us
Um that's a strong message that that we can actually
support from the the the Raleigh Police Department side of
things too
Just making sure that people are not on the roadway
only travel if absolutely necessary
I think that helped us out quite a bit last
weekend
We didn't have any major vehicle accidents
We're able to get the roads cleared up pretty quickly
you know for Monday morning
Again we're trying to hope for that same thing for
this weekend as well just trying to keep people off
the roadway so our officers can move about the city
safely when they have to respond to emergency situations but
also for that cleanup for the transportation division making sure
that we can get our roads back and cleared off
enough for our schools to open
Back up on Monday as well as people getting back
to work
Um lastly I go I guess going back to like
how this is a back to back type of event
um how much more prepared or confident do you guys
feel um this was just last week Yeah so I
mean so we we look at the ice storm you
know I personally I was probably a little bit more
concerned about that you know with losing power especially you
know the folks in Raleigh you know that might have
some mobility issues losing power for any sort of amount
of time that could really have an impact on your
health you know so look
At this one this is going to be a little
different even though we still have a lot of the
concerns that we might still lose some power but with
the snow compared to the ice I think my concern
is that people are going to look outside instead of
seeing the ice they're they're going to see snow
Snow is going to be a little more prettier to
look at
Families kids they're going to want to get out and
try to get into the snow a little bit more
than the ice
So just trying to make sure that people have that
plan in place if they do try to get out
of their houses trying to find that safe place to
sled in your neighborhood
Uh but again let's just try to avoid driving around
uh and getting in the way and interfering with law
enforcement and fire and and people just trying to do
what they can to serve the community
And can you tell us a little bit more about
the emergency operations center Yeah so the emergency operations center
that brings in all the departments in in the in
the city uh that allows them to communicate with each
other
We have like power goes out a tree goes down
traffic lights go out we can kind of communicate those
things especially or if you have a slick spot trying
to get DOT out there to try to address those
areas so that way it creates a safer environment for
everybody
And you talked about this a little bit but with
snow and ice two different animals is there anything you
guys are doing differently this weekend or lessons learned from
last weekend No I think just the preparation um I
know the preparation for the ice storm you know just
making sure the transportation was out there treating the roadway
I think this time with it being the snow hopefully
getting out there and clearing off the roads will be
a little bit quicker right since we're not dealing with
ice um hopefully that'll kind of get us back on
our feet and get things opened back up
I think that would be the biggest win for us
for this weekend
Yeah I think from a community care standpoint you know
we definitely want to make sure that you know people
that again with the mobility issues get to know your
neighbors right Let's look out for one another
Let's let's let's get in touch with each other
Let's exchange phone numbers you know let's try to you
know establish those relationships
You know myself I've got a text thread with all
my neighbors on my on my cul-de-sac
Uh I would strongly suggest that for our community members
as well uh just so that we can look you
know look out for one another
That's what makes Raleigh one of the greatest places to
live
All right
Thank you
Thank you
OK uh just to start with saying and spelling
Lowell L O W E L L Smith S M
I T H and I'm Assistant Fire Chief operations of
Raleigh Fire Department
Um how are you guys feeling going into this weekend
in terms of preparedness coming back also especially from last
weekend right Well you know I guess last weekend's was
a dress rehearsal for this weekend so same prep again
you know um just you know we've got our equipment
inspected and staged
Um we're ready to
You know uh adjust our deployment model if we need
to
We're partnering with all of our other city agencies and
city departments you know to make maintain that unified response
Um and how was the response last weekend in terms
of like call volume or the types of calls that
you guys responded to So actually very very light um
we we come out very lucky
We you know we thank the public for that staying
off the roads and that's the same message again this
time you know if you have to if you don't
have to get out please avoid all unnecessary travel and
the
The more people that's on the road the the more
likelihood of accidents the more likelihood that we're gonna have
to get out and respond as well
Um you mentioned roads but are there any other type
of like common scenarios that you guys kind of brace
for um when winter weather happens here Absolutely yes so
so we know it's gonna be freezing
So you know it's always a challenge uh you know
operating public safety wise in the cold weather just like
it is for anybody else to be out in it
So we're you know we're dealing with the comedy the
cold weather the freezing water you know everything like that
Um the biggest thing too that we want to make
sure we reiterate is you know stay off of frozen
lakes and ponds
That's a different you know animal that we're seeing now
that we're not normally accustomed to see and so it's
not safe you know it may be a half inch
to 1 inch of ice that looks looks safe but
you know you take 3 steps out there the 4th
step you're gonna be under under the water and so
on that on that aspect of it if you have
that happen call 911 immediately you know don't try to
affect the rescue yourself um
The sooner you can get the professionals en route the
better off you know that we're gonna be and maybe
effective rescue
Are there any fire safety tips or I guess if
a lot of people decide to use generators like are
there safety tips for that right So obviously we're you
know uh loss of powers on everybody's mind especially coming
out of last weekend
If you use generators you know we we recommend them
be 20 ft away from your house with the exhaust
blowing the opposite way
Um make sure that it's plugged in properly um you
know never ever ever never use charcoal grills or anything
like that inside to heat your home
You know it puts off carbon dioxide and it's it's
deadly within minutes
Um if you're using space heaters make sure that they're
plugged in directly into the generator or into the wall
outlet itself
And not into an extension corridor like that maintain a
proper distance of at least 6 to 10 ft away
from combustibles or anything like that
And if you leave cut everything off yeah
Kerosene heaters are popular
They're deemed to be you know they're deemed to be
safe but with with the same thing with kerosene is
within space heaters you know keep them away from combustibles
You know don't leave them on when you're out you
know just cut them off when you leave
What's the biggest call that you guys get during ice
or snow storms I would probably say wrecks and falls
um you know people getting out falling on the ice
falling in the snow or whatever sledding accidents you know
we urge parents to you know keep an eye on
your kids make sure that they're being as safe as
possible yet having a good time right So but motor
vehicle accidents and falls would be you know really common
with this type of weather event
And then unfortunately we do see an uptick in home
structure fires residential structure fires
So anything different this past storm Any unusual calls that
you're no uh like I say the the call volume
was relatively light
Um we're we're positioned now to have the same response
as we did last weekend
We've got more of our all-terrain vehicles out and ready
to respond
We've adjusted our staffing model increased staffing and everything so
I mean Raley Fire Department's ready ready to respond whatever
the weather is
So any final plea to citizens out there for this
yeah if you if you don't need to be on
the roads please don't
You know we we do urge you um to avoid
any unnecessary travel and then you know again keep your
your your kids and your pets away from any frozen
bodies of water
Thank you
Thank you
Uh sure Steve Halsey H A L S E Y
and I'm with the Department of Transportation with the City
of Raleigh and I'm the assistant director
So how are preparations going with the roads right now
Um how are they right now So we were able
to get out yesterday and do our pre-treatment with Brian
uh second time in a week so we're getting pretty
good at it
But we were able to treat everything we anticipated yesterday
and giving the crews a little bit of a rest
today in anticipation of our day and night shift starting
at 7 o'clock tonight
How did last weekend go um with the roads um
how yeah
So ice last week obviously was the biggest challenge along
with the cold temperatures
I think we still have some roads and shady spots
where maybe the ice hasn't fully melted away from the
streets so that can present a challenge if snow falls
on top
But looking forward to this coming weekend with the forecast
of snow falling we anticipate being able to hopefully push
the snow off the road and then treat the roads
with salt so a little bit different type of accumulation
than dealing with ice like we did last weekend
How much brine have you guys used in the city
of Raleigh limits within the past two weeks Uh so
it's 57,000 gallons per event and we treat approximately 750
miles of streets
That's a lot
It is
It takes about 10 hours with our 12 trucks but
uh we've got it got it down to where everybody
knows what their responsibility is and it's become a well
well-oiled machine
Absolutely
Kind of explain a little bit more about those challenges
of having these back to back events
Uh Obviously staff is the first thing that comes to
mind
Uh if you go back 3 weeks we had that
threat of some wintry weather so we had staff working
that week
Coming into this weekend that's our biggest priority is making
sure staff are in good spirits and rested and the
best they can be going into potentially another long stretch
Yes so obviously traffic volumes and creating connectivity to those
interstates are key
So NCDOT has their priorities which start with the interstates
and we kind of pick up on those next level
of north south and east-west connectors again based on traffic
volumes and our priority is to get those routes clear
first before we move down to the next sets of
priorities and neighborhood streets would fall
Uh Down to what we call a priority 4 which
would be several days into an event and typically uh
Mother Nature kicks in and we we aren't required to
go down those streets
Um even though this is a type of different precipitation
like snowfall compared to ice last weekend um is does
it change any way like people should approach or like
prepare for safetyness this weekend I would call it the
same type of those that can stay home hopefully they
will stay home and give the first responders emergency services
the local utility companies and of course the road crews
the ability to work and work safely without traffic out
on the roads
And again
The snow versus ice conversation I would treat it the
same as far as the public is concerned because either
way you can anticipate very slick conditions with the cold
temperatures and moving on into the beginning of next week
even after the snow's gone
I know the forecast is for low temperatures so this
stuff probably will hang around for a while and again
some of those secondary roads are going to continue to
remain challenging even into the next week
After well you guys are prepping the roads today but
after the snow falls what does that process look like
for you guys So as the snow is falling we're
looking for accumulating snow and once we get to the
point where we can actually use our plows and our
equipment the priority is to push the snow off of
the roads and then treat with salt to try and
keep the ice from building up on the roads because
again with traffic the snow can melt turn into ice
and that becomes a whole other problem
So the priority is to get the snow off treat
with salt get that priority clear and then move on
to the next set of priorities
It is
We have staff dedicated to working on some of the
priority sidewalks in the downtown area within our municipal service
district
Outside of that obviously most of our staff is dedicated
to clearing the roads so that's going to be our
priority
And what is your biggest message or urgency to drivers
people who just wanna go out and play in the
snow this weekend uh for safety I would keep trips
to a minimum if possible keep it to emergency type
trips and again give all the people that have to
be out working the ability to do that safely have
patience
Again the cold temperatures are going to be very challenging
for us to be able to get the roads clear
in what some might see as a timely manner but
certainly when you're dealing with the number of roads that
we have in Raleigh and the amount of traffic we
have in Raleigh our resources only go so far
We're going to do the best we can with those
resources but It's just a matter of having that patience
and understanding that the cold temperatures present a whole another
challenge
Sometimes there's confusion with homeowners you know who's taking care
of my road county city you know HOAs talked to
that a little bit
Yeah those that live in the in the Raleigh city
limits uh the majority of your main thoroughfares are NCDOT
roads and when you start moving down into the secondary
roads especially those with curb and gutter those are usually
city Raleigh roads
But again when it comes to responding to snow and
ice we work hand in hand with DOT to make
sure that we're creating that connectivity regardless of who may
be the underlying owner of that street
Some of the private community Yeah private communities would be
the responsibility of whatever homeowners association uh or you know
commercial
Uh commercial responsibility through the property management companies
And if a homeowner if someone's street hasn't been touched
um is there someone they can reach out to Is
there a number Is there a website to check to
see if they're coming their way Yes certainly I think
that if there is an emergency we can respond and
they can they can contact the city through the normal
channels but Again patience is going to be the key
Not every road is going to be clear and not
every road is probably going to be clear within what
the public might perceive as a timely manner
Anything else we missed I think you all got it
Thank you
Thank you so much