SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — The winter blast is creating challenges across the Mid-South.
Mother Nature plans on striking before dawn Friday bringing freezing rain, strong winds and up to several inches of snow.
“My encouragement for citizens tonight and in the morning: if you don’t have to travel don’t,” said Dale Lane, the Shelby County Office of Preparedness director.
Emergency crews said Friday won’t be pretty.
Traveling will be an issue, especially because crews couldn’t pre-treat the roads like usual.
It’s going to rain until it snows. The brine would have washed away.
“Ideally you would love to pre-treat beforehand, because that gives you a cushion in terms of your responsiveness,” said Public Works Director Robert Knecht.
Instead, Shelby County and Memphis are working together.
Snow plows and salt trucks are fueled up.
The city ready to use newly-purchased snow plow attachments if needed.
Once crews see or hear about ice, they will fan out and focus on bridges, overpasses and major streets.
MLGW is basically following the same plan. All employees on standby.
“We will be working 24/7,” said MLGW spokeswoman Gale Jones Carson. “Snow is really not that much of a problem. If it ices over, it weighs heavily on our lines.”
Add wind gusts up to 40 m.p.h., utility crews said there will be power outages Friday.
MLGW, county and city crews say they will be tracking the weather and ready to dispatch employees as soon as it hits.