Schools, county government to be again closed on Wednesday

UPDATED 2 P.M. TUESDAY

Banks County schools and government offices will be closed again on Wednesday due to the snow and ice and conditions of the roads. The board of commissioners, board of education and Homer City Council meetings scheduled for Tuesday night have also been canceled.


UPDATE 3:30 P.M.

Banks County government offices will be closed on Tuesday due to the snow and ice. The Banks County Board of Commissioners meeting scheduled for Tuesday night has also been canceled and will be rescheduled later.


MONDAY UPDATE
12:15 p.m.

The Banks County School System will be shut down again on Tuesday due to the snow and ice that has covered the area.

As of noon Monday, four to six inches of snow had been reported across the county, according to reports from the 911 center.

"The 911 Center has had six passenger car automobile accidents (with no hospital transports), two tractor trailers jack-knifed, one mechanical breakdown / motorist assist and no power outages, lines down or trees down," reports 911 director Deidra Moore. "This low call volume is very encouraging and we are hoping for the same fortune today but are closely monitoring the predicted change from snow to freezing rain and drizzle."

Moore adds, "We are asking everyone to please stay at home and off of the roads unless it is an emergency. The roads are not in good condition and while DOT and the local road departments are working hard on main roads, there are still many slick spots because we are still having precipitation with no temperature rise (last check on temperature reflected 27)."


SUNDAY NIGHT UPDATE:
The Banks County School System will be shut down Monday for students and staff due to the winter weather coming into the area late Sunday night. The county government offices will also be closed due to the winter weather.

According to the forecast, snow and sleet could hit the area Sunday night and freezing rain on Monday and Tuesday. Snow totals could reach 7 inches in the area.

Meanwhile, Jackson EMC is preparing for the storm, officials said.

With the National Weather Service winter storm watch in effect, Jackson Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) has activated its Emergency Restoration Plan and is readying its line crews, right of way crews and office staff in case severe winter weather disrupts electric service.

“At each of our district offices, we’re making sure our trucks are fully stocked, fueled and ready to roll,” said Jim Smith, vice president of engineering and operations. “All of our line crews and right of way crews will be on call and dispatched to any outages that may occur. Our Systems Control, the nerve center of our distribution network, will continue to monitor the cooperative’s more than 13,400 miles of energized wire throughout Sunday night and Monday to detect outages as they occur.”

Jackson EMC warns all residents to avoid any downed power lines, and to assume that any power line is electrified, even if it doesn’t appear to be. If a line is down across a road or in any other location that poses an immediate hazard, 911 should be notified.

In the event of an outage, Jackson EMC customers should call their local office and use the Automated Outage Reporting System. It will speed the reporting time if customers have their account name, address and phone number ready.

“During a major outage, Jackson EMC works to restore power to the most people in the shortest amount of time,” explained Smith. “When outages are occurring throughout our system, the first priority is restoring the lines that will return service to the largest number of customers with each repair. This means that our workers usually try to restore a main line before restoring power to individual customers. In the event of ice-related outages, we want our customers to know that we’re working as fast as possible to get the power back on as soon as possible.”
Ice storms frequently cause damage to individual homes, meter boxes and the spot where power enters the home, called the service entrance. When that occurs, power can only be restored after an electrician has repaired the damage.

During any power outage, customers can use a battery-operated radio to check local radio stations for any updates, and will find outage information on the cooperative’s Website http://www.jacksonemc.com/storm/index.html, including a map of current outages, as well as information about preparing for a storm, electrical safety after the storm and generator safety.