The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch from Saturday, Jan. 24 at 7 a.m. through Monday, Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. for the Buncombe County and Asheville area. Expect extremely cold temperatures, hazardous driving conditions, possible ice accumulation, and power outages. Governor Stein has declared a State of Emergency.
Severe Weather Information Center: official updates, safety information, and available resources will be posted here as conditions change.
Parking Notice:
Do not park on the road after 5 p.m. on Friday. Plows and salting trucks will be coming through and parked cars will inhibit their effectiveness. The City is opening parking decks for free parking from 5 p.m. on Friday in order to keep vehicles off roads that need to be plowed or salted.
Sprinkler Systems:
If your business has a sprinkler system, be sure the areas in which they are housed are heated to a minimum of 40 degrees. If the temperature falls below 40 degrees in those areas, you will need to conduct walk throughs to discover any freezing or leaks. If they do freeze, have a “fire watch” to ensure the property remains safe.
Helpful Links:
• Tips to prevent/thaw frozen pipes
• Numbers to know in emergency: buncombeready.org – Go there now, screen shot it, print it, save it or write those down.
• Hotels welcoming local residents during winter weather:
https://www.exploreasheville.com/winter-weather-alert
• Road conditions: DriveNC.Gov
• Hope4NC is a free, confidential way to talk to a real person if you are experiencing stress, emotional fatigue, a mental health crisis, or just need someone to talk to. You can call the Hope4NC Helpline at 1-855-587-3463 anytime day or night.
Buncombe County and American Red Cross are opening three shelters at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. Each shelter will have a generator to ensure continuity of operations.
Stay Updated:
Buncombe County will send emergency alerts through social media and reverse 911. You must follow the County on social media and enable notifications to receive alerts there, but reverse 911 alerts will come automatically—similar to Amber Alerts—without sign-up.
Review the Buncombe County updates on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/buncombeGov
Information from Duke Energy:
More than 18,000 workers will be ready to respond as soon as conditions are safe.
If you experience a power outage, you can report that to Duke Energy by texting “OUT” to 57801, calling 1-800.POWERON or by going to duke-energy.com/outages.
Use the enhanced American Red Cross Emergency app: The free app, sponsored by the Duke Energy Foundation, offers emergency checklists, interactive maps of open shelters and the ability to monitor multiple locations for weather alerts.
Download or update the Duke Energy smartphone app: Available via Apple Store or Google Play.
More tips on what to do before, during and after a storm can be found at duke-energy.com/safety-and-preparedness/storm-safety.