Tommie Jones: Emergency Preparedness information for DC Residents

From: WARD5@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2016 4:13 PM
Subject: [WARD5] Emergency Preparedness information for DC Residents

  

Greetings District residents:

In an effort to keep District residents safe and informed, we have listed city resources and other information that we hope will be useful during the blizzard. The Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services (MOCRS) is working closely with other city agencies to bring you accurate and current information.

Forecast

• The National Weather Service is forecasting a blizzard for the Washington metro region  
• We anticipate that the storm will begin tomorrow afternoon around 4pm and wrap up sometime Saturday night
• We can expect around 20 inches of snow, possibly more
• There will likely be significant, sustained winds 

City Operations / Closings

• District of Columbia Public Schools and public charter schools will be closed tomorrow (Friday).
• District government will release non-essential employees Friday at noon. 
• Trash that was regularly scheduled for pickup Thursday will be collected Friday - in addition to regularly scheduled trash pickup for Friday.
• The snow emergency will go into effect at 9:30am, Friday, January 22, 2016
• Parking rules go into effect at the same time
• If your car is towed, please call 202-541-6083
• Trash that was regularly scheduled for pickup Thursday will be collected Friday - in addition to regularly scheduled trash pickup for Friday
• There is NO scheduled trash pickup for Saturday

Preparations

·         The city is pre-treating roads today. 

·         Tomorrow at noon, there will be a full deployment of snow resources. Between DPW and DDOT, there is a total of:

o   106 heavy plows, with an additional 37 contract plows

o   73 light plows

o   145 dump trucks

o   30 loaders and 20 bobcats

·         Salt domes have more than 39,000 tons of salt. 

·         PEPCO has hired additional contractors to take care of tree and wire removal.  They will work closely with DDOT to manage downed trees.

Warm Spaces

• For residents who need a warm place to stay, or in the event of power outages, the Department of Parks and Recreation has designated warming centers in every ward for people EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS:

Location	Ward	Hours of Operation
Banneker Rec Center	1	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
Guy Mason Rec Center	3	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
Kennedy Rec Center	4	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
Emery Rec Center	4	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
Trinidad Rec Center	5	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
King Greenleaf Rec Center	6	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
Sherwood Rec Center	6	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
Fort Davis Rec Center	7	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
Fort Stanton Rec Center	8	Duration of Cold Alert Activation

• For the latest information on warming centers and government resources, please first visit snow.dc.gov. If you don’t have access to the Internet, you can call 311.
• If you or someone you know is homeless or needs shelter, please call the shelter hotline at 1-800-535-7252, or call 311. Help is available all day and night, every day.
• If you have  a power outage, please call 1-877-PEPCO62
• Register all snow related complaints with 311.
• If you need to call PEPCO (for outages) call 877.737.2632 (this is a 24 hour line)
• If your roof collapses because of the weight of the snow- call 911.
• Emergency Shelters have been designated in each ward for POWER OUTAGES:

Location	Ward	Hours of Operation
Columbia Heights Rec Center	1	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
Volta Park Rec Center	2	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
Chevy Chase Rec Center	3	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
Riggs LaSalle Rec Center	4	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
Turkey Thicket Rec Center	5	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
Rosedale Rec Center	6	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
Hillcrest Rec Center	7	Duration of Cold Alert Activation
Bald Eagle Rec Center	8	Duration of Cold Alert Activation

Clearing Sidewalks 

• For elderly people or people with disabilities who may need help to clear snow, they should call 311.
• For anyone interested in volunteering, they should visit serve.dc.gov.

Staying Safe

• Unless you absolutely have to be out tomorrow afternoon, residents and commuters should get home as early as possible on Friday. 
• During the storm and immediately after it passes, we strongly encourage residents to avoid the roads until they are safe and cleared. 
• It will take time to get things back to normal.  District government will be working around the clock to get our city back up and running.

Staying Connected

***Remember for the most up to date information - go to snow.dc.gov

 

Tommie L. Jones, Jr.

Ward 5 Liaison

Mayor’s Office of Community Relations (MOCRS)

202-535- 1937 Office

202-664-7512 Cellular

Tommie.Jones@dc.gov

@DCTommieJones