City of Haleyville preparing for potential winter storm

HALEYVILLE     - Haleyville Mayor Ken Sunseri gathered department heads for a meeting in the City Hall courtroom Thursday, Jan. 9, making sure all possible preparations are in place ahead of the potential for wintry weather in the area beginning as early as Friday morning, Jan. 10.
Sunseri began by stating that the weather forecasts are constantly changing. Based on the latest forecasts, snow would affect the area after midnight and into early Friday, Sunseri said.
“What worries me is after that, it could be freezing rain,” Sunseri said. “After that, they are predicting snow again.
“If we have water leaks, we are going to need to have sand there,” Sunseri stressed. “Once that water starts coming up, we are going to end up having freezing in that area.”
The potential for persons needing shelter has resulted in coordination with local churches, as well as plans to use he Neighborhood Facilities Building, as last resorts depending on how many residents utilize the Community Safe Room below City Hall.
The first shelter that would be opened is the Community Safe Room, followed by the facilities building, then churches, if needed as a last resort, the mayor explained.
The safe room is already available as a warming station if needed, complete with sleeping bags, blankets, food and supplies.  However, residents in need should contact Haleyville Dispatch at (205) 486-5201 before arriving so arrangements can be made for the warming station, Sunseri stated.
“If people come into that area, then they are our responsibility to feed,” Sunseri noted.
“If we have to open a shelter,we are going to have to have employee rotation,” Sunseri continued. “In other words, I can’t leave (an employee) in there 24 hours.”
The mayor told department heads and others attending the meeting the city should be prepared  to be self-sufficient for the next 72 hours.
An emergency action plan has already been signed, giving Sunseri the authority to contract for basic needs of the city, without having to contact the council, the mayor stated.
The city has been in contact with the Alabama Department of Transportation, which will be pre-treating highways 13, 195 and 129, Sunseri informed.
“I anticipate all city roads will be impassable,” he said. “We know that once it starts to snow, everyone will want to come out and use their sleds and garbage can lids and everything else, to enjoy the snow.
“That is going to create a problem for us because we have got to keep those roads open for emergency vehicles,” said Sunseri.
ALDOT will also have a snow plow with two personnel assigned to Haleyville with the mission of keeping the main highways clear so emergency crews will have access to Lakeland Community Hospital, the mayor informed.
“The street department has gone ahead and ordered additional sand,” Sunseri said. “The problem we have is (if) we go out and sand the road, if it rains, it’s going to refreeze and we’ll have to go back out again.”
Alabama Power will have additional crews on standby in case of outages, according to Sunseri and Scott Knight, community relations manager for Alabama Power, who was in attendance.
Sunseri urged department heads to fill their vehicles with gas and have chain saws ready.
If trees fall, Sunseri urged crews to move them off to the side of the road, but not to saw them up at that time in order to save more fuel and personnel needed possibly for other areas.
“You need to put a bottle of water in each of your vehicles,” Sunseri told department heads.
“We’re going to have a problem if people get out on the road and get stuck,” he noted.
Extra food will be on hand if needed at the hospital, according to Sunseri.
“One thing I need to know (Friday) is how many  places are open, grocery stores, restaurants, in case we have to buy food,” he added.
Haleyville Senior Center and Haleyville City Hall will be closed Friday, but personnel will be available, the mayor said.
Since the senior center usually provides a meal to participants on Friday, the city is taking measures to buy sandwich meat and chips in order to carry out a meal on Thursday to those who obtain meals through the senior center, Sunseri said.
This is being done because the Northwest Alabama Council of Local Governments, which provides food for the senior center, has advised they would not be able to send out a vehicle with food on Friday, the mayor reported.
“That will be their meal for Friday,” he said.
Sunseri estimated that about 19 percent of the city’s population is at or below the poverty level.
“So we are going to have to be available to help those individuals,” he said.
Space heaters, the mayor warned, can be a fire hazard, so all flammable objects should be kept three or more feet away from them when they are in operation or have just been turned off.
“People are going to try to stay warm. If they need assistance, they need to call dispatch,” Sunseri urged. “If people abuse those space heaters, we could have fires in our area.”
The closing of both Haleyville City and Winston County school systems on Friday will help alleviate some traffic on the roads, and is a relief to local officials, since there will not be any bus traffic on the roadways, city officials said.
Haleyville Acting Fire Chief Terrell Baccus asked if churches had an alternate power source should the power go out. Representatives of churches in attendance responded they did not, which would factor into whether churches could be used as warming centers.
Dr. Nathan Carroll, pastor of First Baptist Church, noted they have gas-powered appliances in their kitchen if needed.
The Community Safe Room below City Hall, does have a gas-powered generator, in case of an outage, the mayor pointed out.
Jeremy Wise, chief of Haleyville Search and Rescue, noted they could provide transportation for the coroner, as well as fire departments.
“One thing we need is for people to look out for their neighbors,” Sunseri said.“Everybody needs to be aware. They need to prepare themselves.”
Sunseri stressed for residents to have a blanket, extra food and medical supplies on hand in case of an emergency.