More than 80 pieces of equipment and 100 employees were deployed from the Camden County Public Works complex in Lindenwold to the 12 winter maintenance districts this morning in anticipation of today’s winter weather event. As snow falls across Camden County, crews are on the job clearing 1,200 lane miles of county roadway this afternoon and preparing for an extended winter weather engagement well into the night.
“Starting from storm preparations in the early morning hours, county personnel are continuing to treat roads and are prepared to plow any accumulation that takes place,” said Freeholder Ian Leonard, liaison to the Camden County Department of Public Works. “This is a full scale operation with all equipment and manpower mobilized to keep Camden County motorists moving and streets clear during the rush hour surge.”
Snow flurries will become steadier through the day as a coastal storm ramps up this evening. Overnight, the snow intensifies to a rate of an inch per hour. The current forecast is estimating totals of 6 to 10 inches across the county. Strong winds will result in lowered visibility and drifting snow. The weather system is expected to continue to impact our area through the day tomorrow before it winds down Tuesday night.
With the addition of the strong winds during this winter storm event DPW crews will be preparing tree removal equipment. There is a possibility for trees weighted down with excessive snow to fall with sustained wind gusts. Nevertheless, chainsaws will be serviced and trucks ready to go out if a tree is blocking a county roadway.
“The general public should stay off the roads as this storm starts to pick up steam later on tonight into tomorrow. I can’t repeat that enough, if you can stay home please do,” Leonard said. “Anyone on the roadways tomorrow should be prepared to encounter adverse road conditions. In addition, please be conscious of DPW trucks as they work to treat and clear our highway system. Motorists that have to be on the road should be at least six car lengths behind our vehicles while they work.”
The Freeholder Board also offers assistance to senior citizens and disabled residents who are unable to remove significant amounts of snow accumulation from their properties.
“The snow removal program is available to help seniors and disabled individuals get out of their homes for necessities such as prescriptions or medical appointments,” said Freeholder Michelle Gentek, liaison to the Camden County Department of Corrections. “The program uses jail inmates who are carefully screened, non-violent offenders who are guarded at all times on the job site by corrections officers.”
The Snow Removal Program will go into effect only after four inches of snow have fallen on the ground in our area.
At-risk senior and disabled residents can contact the Camden County Division of Emergency Management at (856) 783-4808 ext. 5060, from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Calls for snow removal will not be taken until after it has stopped snowing.
Work Crews will be dispatched only after it has stopped snowing. The work crews will remove snow only during daylight hours from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Crews will respond to calls in the order they are received and will service as many residents as possible each day. There are no guaranteed times when the crews will arrive at a residence.
Senior and Disabled residents must call after each substantial snowfall to request this service.
The Department of Corrections will supply the needed equipment. The program does not supply salt or ice-melting chemicals, but crews will dispense them if supplied by residents. Contact and conversation between the inmates and the public are prohibited. Gratuities and gifts or money, food, drink or any other item is strictly prohibited.
If the storm takes out your electricity, please remember to call an outage in immediately to your utility company so they can identify the location and coordinate crews to restore your power. Below are numbers and contact info for the two power providers and the two gas utilities in Camden County:
PSE&G: 1-800-436-PSEG (7734)
PSEG website: http://pseg.com/home/customer_service/outage_info/index.jsp
Atlantic City Electric: 1-800-833-7476
Atlantic City Electric website: http://www.atlanticcityelectric.com/home/
South Jersey Gas: 1-800-582-7060
South Jersey Gas website: http://southjerseygas.com/
As always, please use 911 for emergencies only. If you see a problem on a county road, please call (856) 566-2980 to report it to the Camden County DPW throughout the storm.
Continue to check www.camdencounty.com through the storm for weather and road condition updates. Information will also be provided through Facebook at www.facebook.com/camdencountynj and Twitter @camdencountynj.
CLOSINGS!
Camden County College and the Camden County Library System will close early today due to the severe weather.
Additionally, all New Jersey courts and court offices will be closed on January 27th.
Camden County College will close at 2 p.m. today.
All day and evening classes and activities are cancelled at all locations. Please monitor their website and Facebook pages for updates regarding their operating schedule on Tuesday. (www.camdencc.edu)
All branches of the Camden County Library System will close at 4 p.m. today and will remain closed tomorrow. It is anticipated that they will return to their regular operating schedule on Wednesday.
“The general public should stay off the roads as this storm starts to pick up steam later on tonight into tomorrow. I can’t repeat that enough, if you can stay home please do,” said Freeholder Ian Leonard, liaison to the Camden County Department of Public Works. “Anyone on the roadways tomorrow should be prepared to encounter adverse road conditions. In addition, please be conscious of DPW trucks as they work to treat and clear our highway system. Motorists that have to be on the road should be at least six car lengths behind our vehicles while they work.”
Snow flurries will become steadier through the day as a coastal storm ramps up this evening. Overnight, the snow intensifies to a rate of an inch per hour.
The current forecast is estimating totals of 6 to 10 inches across the county. Strong winds will result in lowered visibility and drifting snow. The weather system is expected to continue to impact our area through the day tomorrow before it winds down Tuesday night.