Well in advance of the first sign of precipitation, preparations have already been underway at the Camden County Department of Public Works (CCDPW) to respond to inclement conditions on area roadways starting overnight in the early morning hours. The outlook is pointing to snow accumulation of up to five inches starting Friday morning and tapering off later in the day with wind gusts of up to 35 mph.
“It looks like this winter weather event will be similar to the one we had earlier in the week with one key difference- the ground is frozen as opposed to Monday when we had temperatures of up to 65 degrees the day before,” said Commissioner Al Dyer, liaison to the CCDPW. “This key aspect will make the job a little tougher in the early morning hours tomorrow. Based on the timing of this storm it looks like we will start to see accumulation around the morning rush hour. That said, we need everyone to give themselves plenty of extra time and be cautious on the roads tomorrow if you have to be on them.”
Currently, the extended forecasts are calling for accumulations of anywhere from 2 to 5 inches as the first inch building between 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. The storm is expected to move through the area starting tonight with a coating overnight, more moderate snowfall coming in the morning hours and tapering off in the afternoon.
At the public works complex in Lindenwold, more than 100 pieces of equipment are available to keep county roadways passable. When the weather becomes treacherous, personnel will be dispatched to 12 winter maintenance districts to salt and plow 1,200 lane miles of roadways across Camden County. The county’s response plan calls for crews to be dispatched only to the zones where they are needed.
“My message would be for tomorrow to stay off the roads if you can and give our crews the ability to effectively do their job. Anyone on the roadways during the storm should be prepared to encounter slick road conditions. And remember to always leave at least six car lengths behind our DPW trucks while they work, and move any cars off the street and into a driveway while we continue our operations,” Dyer continued. “Remember that it is illegal in New Jersey to plow or shovel snow from private property into roadways.”
In the event that the weather causes isolated power outages, please remember to immediately call your utility company so they can identify the location and coordinate crews to restore your power. Any storm has the potential to bring down trees and power lines, so residents need to be extra cognizant of any power failures. Below are numbers and contact info for the two power providers 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 our 24-hour hotline at (856) 566-2980 to report it to DPW.
Continue to check www.camdencounty.com through the storm for weather and road condition updates. Information will also be provided through Facebook and Twitter.
