Pickens County weather announcements, closings

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As Pickens County has moved from a winter weather watch to a winter weather storm, emergency crews have been working relentlessly to keep citizens safe and to respond to their needs. Winter storm Leon came to town with a vengeance, creating very hazardous driving conditions and dangerously low temperatures.Thursday, 3:45 p.m.: “Due to road conditions, school will be cancelled Friday, January 31, 2014, for Pickens County students and staff. Twelve-month employees should report to work at 10:00 a.m. if road conditions in your area are favorable. As always, your safety is our main priority.”

Thursday, 3:15 p.m.: Cove Road is open to thru traffic. Please use extreme caution on all roadways. All Pickens County offices will open at 10:00 am tomorrow, January 31, 2014.

Thursday, 1 p.m.: Pickens Sheriff’s Office reports all roads are still icy as the snow isn’t melting as quickly as anticipated. Cove Road is closed and will likely be closed throughout the rest of the day. The S.O. continues to advise against all travel other than emergencies.

Thursday, 12:00 p.m.: The National Weather Service has issued a hazard warning for black ice in Pickens County. Please see the following excerpt:

…BLACK ICE WILL MAKE DRIVING TREACHEROUS TODAY…

BLACK ICE WILL MAKE DRIVING TREACHEROUS THIS MORNING. AVOID DRIVING
UNLESS IT IS AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST DRIVE…USE EXTREME
CAUTION…SLOW DOWN…AND LEAVE PLENTY OF ROOM.

TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RISE ABOVE FREEZING BETWEEN 10 AM
AND 200 PM ACROSS THE AREA.

Wednesday, 5:00 p.m.: Pickens County Emergency Shelter has closed which is good news. That means that all persons facing lack of shelter are safely delivered home or to a safe environment. Ray Jackson of the Pickens County Sheriff’s Auxiliary Unit said they were able to assist 10 people including a Gilmer County resident. The Emergency Operations Center has been closed but is subject to re-open should conditions deteriorate.

Cove Road will remain CLOSED through tonight. No accidents at this time although there is patchy ice on all roads that are being labeled treacherous. The roads are expected to refreeze tonight. The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office is still urging people to only travel in emergencies.

Wednesday, 12:45 p.m.: EMA Director Bob Howard doesn’t see any reportable improvement in conditions although he does say there aren’t currently any accidents or stranded parties. He reminded people that while nothing is currently working that doesn’t reflect any change in road conditions and is still advising against any travel that isn’t emergency in nature. Cove Road is the only road closed at this time and they are struggling to get the vehicles there moved and the road treated.

“The county, city and state road crews are working very hard to get the main arteries clear but the side roads may not be cleared until this weekend,”

Howard stated.

He estimated about 40 wrecks and 200 stranded from the start of the storm through earlier this morning. He reported no other weather-related incidents such as fires.

Wednesday, 10:15 a.m.: Pickens Emergency Preparedness Facebook site is reporting Highway 515 is treacherous but passable at this time. Highway 136 and Henderson Mountain are both treacherous and it is advised to not travel at this time unless it is an emergency. They continue to advise against traveling in all areas of the county unless it’s an emergency.

Wednesday 9:45 a.m.: Emergency shelter volunteer Deb Galloway is reporting they had seven people sign-in at the shelter and six that stayed overnight. They are working alongside the sheriff’s office to get those people back to their vehicles and home safely as they are able. Galloway stated that several others were sheltered overnight at the fire stations and at the hospital.

Wednesday, 8:00 a.m.: Georgia remains under a state of emergency declared by Governor Deal. Everyone is asked to stay home and keep the roadways clear so crews can continue the arduous work of clearing the road and assisting motorists. We remain under a winter storm warning until 1 p.m. Per the Emergency Operations Center, conditions did not improve overnight.

7:30 p.m.: EMA Director Bob Howard is reporting about a dozen people stranded and refusing to leave their vehicles in the county. The Sheriff’s Office and State Patrol are attempting to pick up stranded motorists in several areas of the county to take them to the emergency shelter. A lot of roads are still impassable including Henderson Mountain Road and Cove Road is closed. He will keep the Emergency Operations Center open all night. Howard also states that crews are salting and laying gravel on roadways but re-freezing is continuously happening despite their best efforts.

Pickens County Emergency crews are reporting at 3:30 road closings and accidents are too numerous to list. They are advising all motorists to stay off the roadways.

An emergency shelter has been opened at the Pickens County Community Center, 1329 Camp Road.

Warming stations have been opened in the following locations:
Station 5, 8, and 9 are open as warming stations for all who need them.
Station 5 is located at 3764 Cove Road, Jasper, GA.
Station 8 is located at 200 Henderson Mountain Road Jasper, GA.
Station 9 is located at 1067 Yellow Creek Road, N. Ball Ground, GA.

A list of closings and delays follows:

Pickens County Schools will be closed January 30.

Chattahoochee Tech campus – closed January 30.

Superior and Juvenile courts – closed.

Pickens County Government offices – closed January 30.

Pickens County Health Department – closed.

Georgia Department of Labor offices – closed January 30.

Please stay with FYN for additional announcements as they occur.

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