Operation Winter Storm

Team,

I want to thank you for the offers of help today. We had enough help to get the job done. We had the warming shelter open all day. We were very busy trying to meet the needs of folks, although only a very few people came in to get warm. No one wanted to stay all night. This is almost always the case with shelters. We also know that there may be people out there who don’t know how to get help. It is nearly impossible to get the word to people who don’t have power or phone service and can’t get out even if they want to.

I’m getting word that there are some areas getting power back this evening. We know there are people out there who need our prayers, including the workers. It will be a long cold night for many. Dispatch will be contacting me through the night if needs come in. Although we did not have a need to set up a full shelter, we do have a plan in place if the need arises in the night.

We will open the emergency operations center again in the morning. People are welcome to come into the senior center any time tomorrow and get warm.

Be aware the cell towers in the county appear to be losing their power. This may be because they are running on batteries and have switched to lower power. I’m not sure , but the signal strength is low.

We don’t know what tomorrow will hold, so if you are available to help please email me at tjcooper If you need help please let me know right away.

Thank you,
Tom

304-758-5155 office (forwards to cell)

304-337-9366 home