Winter Weather Preparations

Chattanooga, TN (WDEF): With the threat of wintry weather affecting the Tennessee Valley early next week, several agencies start making preparations.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is wasting no time preparing for the potential of wintry weather in a couple of days. Jennifer Flynn, Tennessee Department of Transportation Communication Officer said, "Today our crews are out spraying brine on the roadways, on the state roads, in the higher elevations like on Signal Mountain, Lookout Mountain, some of the higher elevations on State Route 111." TDOT will then shift their crews to handle other roadways starting Saturday. Flynn said, "The plan is to pre-treat brine on the interstates and the other state routes, and then after that we will just wait and see what happens. This particular brine solution that we are using is just the straight brine that’s salt water." This solution will keep any snow that does fall into a slushy state until the salt trucks and snow plows can get to it. TDOT workers were out Friday afternoon preparing new plows and their supplies. Flynn said, "We have got pretty full bins because we have had a relatively mild winter so far, so we are prepared to deal with whatever comes our way."

Hamilton County Emergency Services are in communication with the highway department to let them know how the roads are doing and what they are preparing for as well. Amy Maxwell, Hamilton County Emergency Services Spokesperson said, "This isn’t just for the motorists and residents. This is for our emergency responder personnel, and they have to know this in an event of potential fires or any potential medical calls, and also the director of EMS has to make that kind of decision as well." For valuable information regarding community emergency preparedness visit:
http://www.hamiltonready.org/