HEMA Director responds to recent snowfall, previews potential severe weather this weekend 

HOUSTON COUNTY — Last Sunday, residents of Houston County and beyond were blessed with snowfall for the second year in a row, a rare occurrence in the State of Georgia. 

Houston County Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Chris Stoner said most of the response from the Houston County Emergency Management Agency was monitoring the snowfall and coordinating with the cities, county and public works. 

“[We] were making sure that we had adequate supplies and prepared for the worst case scenario,” he said. “Fortunately, we ended up with a perfect scenario as we were able to get snow but it was able to melt off before it had any negative impacts.” 

Stoner and his team were also checking the roadways throughout the county. He said they were very fortunate the snow came and went without any issue, unlike last year. 

He pointed out that last year’s temperatures stayed a lot colder for a longer period of time. 

“Last year’s event was a lot more crippling than this year’s strictly because of the temperatures both leading up to the event and post,” he said. 

Residents of Houston County may be getting another episode of winter weather this weekend as some have reported there to be an ice storm on the move to Central Georgia. 

Right now, Stoner said a lot of emphasis has been made on those reports using long-range modeling. He said that this is the opposite of what they are used for. 

“Long range modeling is great for being a tool, but not so much of hammering down specifics,” he said. “You can’t take just the model data itself and say that this is definitive, and that’s what was broadcasted for this event.”  

Stoner did say one of those scenarios of the model may come true, but it is too early to tell as of yet if that will be the case. 

HEMA does use long-range modeling as a preparation tool for a potential event. 

“It’s always better to be prepared and not need something then not be prepared and need it,” he said. “We use [long range modeling] as a tool to help us build a plan of what we’re going to do and how we’re going to prepare. We rely on the short-range models a lot more to dial in on whether or not we’re going to recommend closures as we will never recommend a closure solely based on long-range modeling.” 

According to Stoner, any ice related event in Houston County or surrounding areas will pose a threat. He said any degree of ice above a tenth-of-an-inch will be a bad scenario due to the infrastructure and trees not being used to that type of weather. 

“That added weight from the ice is going to create a lot of downed trees and power lines, road disruptions and essentially stop us to a halt as a community for a couple days,” he said. 

Stoner also provided some advice should any of these projections come into fruition. 

“Have plenty of food and water that you can make and consume without relying on power [such as] canned goods and things like that,” he said. “Make sure you have plenty of warm clothing, a way to heat your home that’s not an outdoor heat source, bring your animals and plants [inside] and except to not be able to drive for a couple days if this does happen.” 

Stoner also pointed out that in the event of a potential power outage to fully charge all mobile devices and try to stay off of them as much as possible. 

“If we need to put out more important messaging and are capable of doing such, you have a way of receiving those messages,” he said. 

To keep up to date on the latest on the potential ice storm this weekend, visit the Houston County Emergency Management Facebook page: 

www.facebook.com/HOUSTONCOUNTYEMA