Missouri preps for winter storm

Governor declares state of emergency

Lanes were full Thursday as people stocked up at Schulte's IGA in preparation for the weekend weather.
Lanes were full Thursday as people stocked up at Schulte's IGA in preparation for the weekend weather.

Representatives of all Cole County and Jefferson City agencies that would deal with the effects of an ice storm met Thursday morning to discuss preparations - not long before Gov. Eric Greitens declared a state of emergency.

Greitens announced Thursday afternoon he had called upon the Missouri National Guard to be prepared for the possibility of drastic actions, a day after activating the Missouri State Emergency Operations Center.

The Missouri Department of Transportation has more than 1,500 trucks for winter operations, all of which will be in operation, Greitens said.

"MoDOT's already began pretreating roads across the state, and this will continue through the duration of the anticipated storm," Greitens said. "MoDOT has also worked all week to make sure it has the resources to respond to power outages and downed trees, preparing essential materials such as generators and chainsaws."

More than 3,500 responders began working 12-hour shifts Thursday for the duration of the storm. Employee leave has been canceled. Missouri Highway Patrol troopers are working extended shifts, and they pre-positioned essential resources where they think they will be needed most.

"We reviewed what occurred when we had the storm in 2007. We had major power outages then, and we want to be ready for that again," Cole County/Jefferson City Emergency Management Director Bill Farr said.

Among their biggest concerns is making sure those with medical needs in their homes and nursing homes keep their power on, Farr said.

"It's easier to get them back on line than to move them to another location," he said. "We know Ameren Missouri and Missouri American Water are making sure they have their resources in place to respond to the storm."

While pretreating of roads has been taking place, there's nothing they can do for the power lines, Farr said.

"They're up in the air and will freeze faster," he said. "In the 2007 storm in Springfield, they only had wet streets, but the air was cold enough for the moisture to freeze the lines, and they popped like crazy."

Farr said public works facilities, law enforcement and fire departments have generators to make sure they keep power.

The Missouri Department of Public Safety also had prestaged more than 100 generators across the state to be used in areas that could be hardest hit by the storm.

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Weather-related cancellations and announcements