North Georgia prepares farmlands, roadways for arctic weather

From farms to roadways, people across North Georgia are gearing up for the winter weather expected to take over the next few days.

Many farmers are covering crops like strawberries ahead of the falling temperatures.

"They're in a dormant state right now, but they still can cause damage in the 10 to 15-degree marks," Daniel Welliver with Southern Belle Farm said.

"It's kind of like putting a big blanket on them. We're just keeping the temperatures under the covers a little warmer. These covers that we're using today, they buy us five to seven degrees. So, if it was 15-degrees, we can usually keep under the covers around 20 to 22," he added.

Laying the covers isn't something farmers have to do often, but they say it's an essential step to make sure the berries are ready to go in the spring.

"We're prepared to do this each year. We don't like to do it, but unfortunately, when the cold weather comes, we do," Welliver said.

On the roads, it was all hands on deck at GDOT District 6 as crews put out over one hundred and seventy thousand gallons of brine on roadways. It's a process they started on Sunday.

"We're moving now to salting roads as they're needed, and treating the overpasses and bridges," Joe Schulman with GDOT Dist. 6 explained.

"We're also having plow teams ready and patrolling the far northern counties – Dade, Catoosa, Walker – where they're starting to see some accumulation of snow in the grassy areas. Especially, in the darker hours, late night [and] early morning, stay off the roads if you can," Schulman added.