As the region braces for Mother Nature’s wrath — an ice storm warning remains in effect here through Sunday morning — the Allen County Sheriff’s Department has offered some nuggets of advice.
“Plan on hunkering down so you don’t have to meet one of our deputies,” and forego any non-essential travel, the department wrote on its Facebook page Thursday. “It’s gonna get slick.”
Motorists who have to be out on the icy roads can check ahead to see travel conditions by calling 511, or by going online to kandrive.org to see a real-time map showing which roads are icy.
Roads can become treacherous with little warning, especially bridges and overpasses.
Crews will be working overtime to treat roads, “but we have a lot of roads in Allen County, and yours most likely won’t be first,” the department wrote.
Avoid calling 911 or the county dispatch center if there’s no emergency.
“Calling us for updates during bad weather is tying up the phone lines,” the department said.
Likewise, do not call 911 if your power goes out.
“We don’t do electric, gas or water,” the department said. “Call your utility company if you have issues.”
A downed power line is another story.
“Yes, you can call us for that,” the department said. “It’s a safety hazard.”
Most schools in the area were called off Thursday afternoon for Friday, well in advance of the approaching storm.
