SAN ANTONIO - Following the ice storm in February 2021, county and city officials want the community to know they are prepared for extreme weather.
Bexar County crews with the department of public works have been on the roads since early Monday morning, prepping the bridges and overpasses for potential ice that may accumulate. If Bexar County roads ice-up, county officials say they’re ready.
“We have eight tandem trucks with spreaders that are ready to go. We have two trucks that are pre-loaded with de-icer. We have about 140 tons, which is the thicker rock that we use for bridges and overpasses. And we have about 300 tons of fine grind stone that we'll use in residential areas if the roads start to ice up,” said Renee Green the Director of Public works and Bexar County engineer.
Green says many lessons were learned during the freeze in February 2021. That’s why preparation for the latest round of winter weather started well in advance.
“All of our other equipment like chain saws and poll saws are ready to go if we have to cut down limbs if they're frozen over, as well as back hoes and larger equipment if we have to remove larger debris from the roads,” said Green.
Also on the ready, CPS Energy. They have been active with overhead tree trimming in recent months to prepare for cold snaps like this with potential high winds. They want to make sure their electric customers are always with power.
“We do a lot of inspections and we really prepare our crews to make sure they're ready to respond during major events,” said Richard Medina, CPS Executive VP of Energy Delivery Services.
Medina says crews have always been working extra hard to deliver reliability to its more than 900,000 electric customers. CPS has 8,000 miles of overhead line that serve the community. And in recent months, Medina says crews trimmed a lot of trees to make sure no power lines would be affected by a cold snap or high winds.
“Tree trimming is a big risk for us, especially with the winter season and high winds and ice accumulating on trees and getting on the lines. We did trim about 600 miles of line this year," said Medina.
All precautionary measures to make sure people are safe and with power during this colder weather that’s expected to last the next few days.
If you’d like more information on how you can get prepared for winter weather before temperatures drop, CLICK HERE for information from CPS Energy. You can also follow Bexar County and what they’re doing to stay weather aware on their Facebook page.
And for future reference on flooding events, the Bexar County HALT website is a great resource.