DECATUR, Ga. – DeKalb officials are urging residents to exercise caution after the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for much of central and north Georgia, including metro Atlanta and DeKalb County.
Additionally, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has declared state of emergency during the potentially significant winter weather event which is predicted to bring 3 to 4 inches of accumulated snow in DeKalb County.
As a result of anticipated winter weather, DeKalb County offices, libraries and recreation centers will close at 1 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 6, and all Friday afternoon and Saturday events and programs are cancelled. Senior centers will close at noon.
DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond is working in conjunction with the DeKalb County School District to ensure that both parents and students get home safely.
County employees who are parents of school-age children will be permitted if necessary to leave work at whatever hour is appropriate in order to pick up their children at school or meet them when they arrive at home.
“The safety of our youngest residents is a top priority for DeKalb County,” Thurmond said. “If parents need to leave work before 1 p.m. to meet their children, they are urged to do so.”
Friday residential sanitation service is planned to run as normal, while single stream recycling and yard debris pickup will stop at 1 p.m.
Commercial sanitation service will be cancelled on Saturday. The Seminole Road Landfill, located at 4203 Clevemont Road, Ellenwood, and the North Transfer Station, located at 4600 Buford Highway, Chamblee, will be closed Saturday.
DeKalb County Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) will open warming centers starting on Saturday for citizens at the following locations:
- Fire Station 3: 24 N. Clarendon Ave, Avondale 30002
- Fire Station 4: 4540 Flakes Mill Road, Ellenwood 30294
- Fire Station 6: 2342 Flat Shoals Road, Atlanta 30316
- Fire Station 8: 2711 Clairmont Road, Atlanta 30329
- Fire Station 18: 4588 Barclay Drive, Dunwoody 30339
- Fire Station 25: 7136 Rockbridge, Stone Mountain 30087
Additionally, DEMA plans to activate its Emergency Operations Center to help coordinate operations within the county and with external partners. The center serves as central command to support critical infrastructure, communicate supplemental needs to Georgia Emergency Management Agency and update media on road conditions.
“Once students and employees have been released, please get to a safe place and stay there. We can’t stress enough the importance of staying off the roads, especially once the precipitation begins to fall,” Thurmond said. “Our crews can better prepare and clear the roads when there are fewer cars and congestion.”
According to the National Weather Service, the winter storm warning for DeKalb is for Friday afternoon through 1 p.m. Saturday and includes all of the metro Atlanta area. Rain is expect to turn into a rain/snow/sleet mix beginning Friday afternoon before becoming all snow overnight Friday.
“We expect this transition to occur in DeKalb between 3-4 p.m., but the accumulation will not begin to occur until 7-8 p.m., said Chief Sue Loeffler, director of DeKalb Emergency Management Agency.
Roads and bridges are expected to become slick making travel hazardous, with heavy snowfall at times.
For update-to-date information during the weather event, visit www.dekalbcountyga.gov for emergency messages, news release and social media posts.
County residents also are encouraged to sign up for DeKalb County’s high-speed emergency notification system, CodeRED, which has the ability to 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.
For more information, please call DEMA at 770-270-0413.
###
1300 Commerce Drive Decatur, GA 30030
