Ron Brackett
Across the Northeast, residents and officials are preparing for major disruptions expected this week from Winter Storm Gail.
They're also working to ensure that bad weather doesn't disrupt delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Every agency involved in winter weather preparedness has a role to play in helping to ensure that vaccine distributions proceed smoothly and safely in the coming days," Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
State officials said public safety and continued vaccine distribution would be top priorities during the storm.
“All of the shippers have a contingency plan in place for severe weather," emergency management director Randy Padfield said. “They can hold the shipment if it’s unsafe to travel, however, we have the ability to route them the best way to get to their destination.”
(MORE: Winter Storm Gail to Blast Northeast With Heavy Snow)
Crews began pretreating the state's roadways with salt on Tuesday, Brad Rudolph, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Rudolph also pointed out that many drivers may be rusty when it comes to driving in snow.
The state emergency managment agency advised drivers to avoid travel from Wednesday evening through Thursday morning, and Wolf asked people to stay home when possible.
“When fewer people are on the road during a winter storm, emergency personnel can work faster and they can do their jobs more safely," the governor said.
Winter storm warnings, watches and winter weather advisories were in effect from southern New England to the southern Appalachians, including Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, PIttsburgh and Roanoke, Virginia.
Gail, which could be the first high-impact Northeast snowstorm in more than two years, is likely to cause problems beginning Wednesday afternoon for motorists, air travelers, shipping companies and utility officials.
"This has the potential to be a real whopper," New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy told reporters at a Monday news conference, according to northjersey.com.
Murphy said state emergency management officials are making preparations for the storm, WNBC-TV reported.
"This system has the potential to provide snow to almost the entire state," he said.
Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco told WCBS the New Jersey county has about 80 snow plow trucks ready to go.
“Tomorrow is going to be a little bit different because it’s going to be a lot of snow. So you salt in the beginning and you salt at the end, but when the snow is coming down at an inch, two, three inches an hour, you don’t salt. You plow, you plow, you plow, you plow,” Tedesco said.
New York State Transportation officials are urging people to stay off the roads so snow plows can do their work.
New York City restaurants, which were ordered to close indoor dinining this week because of the surge in new coronavirus infections, now have been told to close their outdoor roadside dining areas by 2 p.m. Wednesday, the New York Times reports. The closings are a result of the city’s Sanitation Department issuing a snow alert.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran asked residents to leave work early on Wednesday and to avoid traveling once the snow begins falling, WABC reported.
Winter Storm Gail is likely to impact air travel, too. Delta, Southwest, United and American Airlines are waiving change fees for flights that might be affected. Airport officials advised travelers to monitor flight status closely.
Holiday packages may take longer to reach their destinations this week as well. Because of a surge in online buying caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, shippers are expected to carry over 3 billion packages this year, according to ABC's "Good Morning America." That's up from 2.2 billion last year. UPS and other carriers are making contingency plans to route shipments around the storm where possible.
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New York City school officials said students would move to all-remote learning in the case of a significant snow event, WNBC reported.
Mayor Bill de Blasio told WABC on Tuesday that he thinks schools will still have in-person learning on Wednesday but it was still to early to make a call about Thursday.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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