DeKalb Government Offices, Facilities to be Closed Wednesday

DECATUR, Ga. – Due to the snowy and frigid conditions in metro Atlanta, DeKalb County offices, libraries, senior centers and recreation centers will be closed Wednesday, Jan. 17.

Additionally, all DeKalb County courts, the office of the Clerk of Superior Court and Board of Equalization will be closed.

County employees who are required to maintain operations during the weather event should check with their supervisors for instructions.

The following warming stations are open until further notice:

• Fire Station 3, 100 N. Clarendon Ave., Avondale Estates, GA 30002
• Fire Station 6, 2342 Flat Shoals Road, Atlanta, GA 30316
• Fire Station 21, 1090 Crown Point Pkwy., Atlanta, GA 30338

Because extremely cold temperatures can cause frostbite and hypothermia in less than 30 minutes, residents are urged to limit time outdoors during cold and windy conditions.

County officials also share the following tips for winter weather safety:

• When going outside, wear layers of loose-fitting clothing and wear a hat, scarf and gloves to minimize skin exposure to the cold and wind.
• Exercise safety and use proper ventilation when using alternative heat sources, such as fireplaces and electric heaters. Do not use an oven to heat your house. Do not bring grills, generators, kerosene heaters and other outside heating devices inside to heat a home, as they emit poisonous carbon monoxide.
• If there is no heat, close off unneeded rooms, stuff towels in cracks under doors and cover windows at night.
• Keep pets inside and ensure their food and water is not frozen.
• Disconnect and drain outdoor hoses. Detaching the hose allows water to drain from the pipe. Otherwise, a hard freeze can burst either the faucet or the pipe.
• Insulate pipes or faucets in unheated areas. If there are pipelines in an unheated garage or cold crawl space under the house, wrap the water pipes before temperatures plummet. Find the house master water shutoff valve. It may be near the water heater or the washing machine. More likely, it’s where the water line comes into your house from the street. If a pipe bursts anywhere in the house, this valve turns it off.
• Leave a pencil-lead-thin stream of water flowing from a bathroom faucet during the worst of a cold spell. Running water has a lesser chance of freezing.
• If a pipe freezes, do not try to thaw it using a torch with an open flame. This is a fire hazard, and it could also melt pipe solder or burst the pipe. The safest tool is a hair dryer with a low heat setting. Wave the warm air back and forth along the pipe, not on one spot.

• County residents are encouraged to sign up for DeKalb County’s high-speed emergency notification system, CodeRED, which can quickly deliver time-sensitive messages via voice, email, and text to targeted areas of the county during emergency situations. To sign up for CodeRED, follow this link, visit www.dekalbcountyga.gov and click on the CodeRed icon at the bottom of the page. 

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