South Fulton preps for winter storm, opens warming shelters

SOUTH FULTON, Ga. - The City of South Fulton offices will be closed on Friday, but there will be a virtual emergency operations center handling all responses.

City of South Fulton Fire Department Chief Chad Jones says crews are busy gearing up for any needed response. "We don’t do this all the time. We’re not a city that has 3 or 4 months of this. So even statewide, we do have equipment, we do maintain the thoroughfares, but we are talking about an ice event," Jones explained.

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Officials say public works has been busy prepping supplies. "Putting deicers and sand mixtures at our police precincts, fire stations, and parks to make sure they’re open and active," stated Jones. "We have upped staff and [are] bringing them in early."

Even still, Jones says icy roads, bridges and surface streets are still a possibility.

"You pretreat with a salt solution or brine solution to keep them from icing. Our problem is we get rain, then we get a mix, then we get ice, so any solution you put down beforehand gets washed away. That’s why we urge people to stay at home," stressed Jones. 

The city will have two warming centers open to the public. "We do have two that we’ll be opening, which are Welcome All Park and Burdett Park. They’ll be open all day for residents if they need to seek shelter or warmth. If they need overnight, we will transport them to another facility," said Jones.