Chattanooga public works crews began a snow and ice road treatment plan Wednesday, focusing on primary routes and access roads for hospitals, emergency responders and emergency facilities to prepare for the possibility of 3 to 7 inches of snow.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch and issued a forecast Wednesday calling for a 90% chance of snow with several inches of accumulation across the region Friday and Friday night.
Winter weather will affect the area Friday into Saturday, beginning Friday morning with up to 7 inches of snow accumulation expected into Saturday, the weather service said.
Moving forward, primary routes and access roads will be treated until roads are deemed safe, a statement from the city said. To ensure the accessibility of necessary services, those areas will receive treatment first.
(READ MORE: The polar vortex brings its bitter cold to the Southern US)
Secondary routes that feed into the primary routes will be treated next, officials said. Teams will monitor road conditions throughout the event and will re-treat roads as necessary, particularly if refreezing occurs due to low temperatures.
During the snow event, all leaf pickup routes will be temporarily suspended, officials said. Crews will redeploy trucks to focus on snow and ice treatment, prioritizing road safety.
To help maximize road treatment efforts, residents are urged to stay off the roads unless necessary during inclement weather. Additionally, residents are also asked to move parked cars off streets to allow for full and efficient treatment of roadways.
For reports, concerns or questions related to road conditions, please contact 311.
State transportation departments in Tennessee and Georgia are also planning to prep interstates and state routes ahead of the predicted snow, according to emailed statements and notices posted on social media. Georgia crews will begin brining operations at 7 a.m. Thursday, while Tennessee crews have already been brining roads in some areas.
For more information about weather conditions, visit noaa.gov.
Blood Assurance is calling for donors to bolster winter supplies, according to a news release. The organization is urging the public to include donating blood, plasma or platelets in their winter preparation plans.
Winter weather often leads to canceled blood drives and decreased donor turnout, which can create dangerous shortages, officials said.
“With the forecast weather, we anticipate cancellations on Friday and Saturday, which means we really need donors to come out today and tomorrow to prevent shortages,” Brooke Katz, agency spokesperson, said Wednesday in an email. “In terms of inventory, we are still in need of O-negative blood donors as well as AB plasma. Those remain our most critical needs, but of course, we need anyone who can donate to do so.”
Officials urge donors to go to the nearest Blood Assurance center Thursday or find a mobile blood drive nearby by visiting the center’s scheduling site.
POWER
After Winter Storm Elliott forced the utility to impose rolling blackouts just before Christmas in 2022, TVA invested $430 million in the 2024 budget year to boost reliability across its system and harden its natural gas, hydroelectric and coal fleets.
“Mother Nature brought us a storm of the century that exceeded the design capabilities of the plants,” spokesperson Scott Fiedler said in a phone call.
TVA delivers power to 10 million customers in parts of seven states, and officials don’t anticipate the upcoming snow will drive energy demand higher than the record of 34,577 megawatts set Jan. 17, 2024, Fiedler said.
As part of its improvements, TVA has added and upgraded insulation, built enclosures around exposed and vulnerable equipment, and modernized its heat trace technology. That has included installing heated electrical cabling along pipes, which prevents the liquid inside and the monitoring instruments from freezing.
(READ MORE: The next round of bitter cold and snow will hit the southern US)
In the past year, the agency said, it has completed more than 1,400 megawatts of new energy generation and is in the process of constructing another 3,500 megawatts.
“Our region is kind of unique,” Fiedler said. “We could have a 100 degree swing from summer to winter, and we’ve got to prepare our plants for both. We’ve been working hard for the entire year to prepare for what Mother Nature is going to bring us.”
TVA provides energy to more than 150 local power companies across its footprint, including EPB in Chattanooga. EPB spokesperson Sophie Moore said Chattanooga’s electric and internet utility is watching the forecast carefully.
“All of our line crews and contract crews are scheduled to report to work on Friday, and we have requests to additional crews outside of our service,” Moore said in a text.
She encouraged customers to download the My EPB app to monitor and report any outages.
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.