Clint Osborn, director of the Washington, D.C., Emergency Management Agency, joined AccuWeather live to discuss how they're working to keep the city safe during the latest snow.
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00:00Clint Osborne, he's the director of the DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management
00:04Agency. Thanks so much for joining us again, Director Osborne. We got some big questions to
00:08ask you here as we head into this evening. And we appreciate your time here. We wanted to ask
00:14about this heavy snow this evening. How have your teams been preparing for this event?
00:19Well, as of midnight, we started, Mayor Bowser activated our snow team. Our crews have been out
00:25since midnight, brining and salting our roads. That way what initially hits would melt off. And
00:31then overnight tonight, we'll have over 200 pieces of equipment, our heavy trucks and our light
00:37trucks out throughout the district, making sure that our roadways are clear and that people can
00:41move as safely as possible. Okay, so what are you expecting for this evening and in the morning
00:47commute as far as the driving conditions for drivers? Well, we're expecting snow to continue
00:53to fall into this evening. It'll be at a minimum a slushy commute. It could be a little bit icy,
01:01depending on what the weather does. The biggest message that we want people to take away is that
01:05if you don't need to travel tomorrow, don't. If you can leave extra time, pack your patience and
01:11make sure that you're giving yourself plenty of time to get where you're going, that you know
01:14your route and that you and your vehicle are in good condition to get there if you do have to drive.
01:21And tomorrow evening, there is another storm on its way. Now, this one ultimately will switch over
01:26to rain for you, but on the front end of this, there will be some ice potential. Would you
01:30prepare for that any differently in a case like today? You know, you can't pre-treat for tomorrow
01:36with ongoing snow. How do you do this when you have storms stacked up one against the other?
01:41Our snow team, which focuses on not just the roadways, but also our district government
01:46buildings, will be out all day today, tonight, and into tomorrow. And what we do is we make
01:52adjustments to our operations as we go throughout the day, but we keep equipment on to focus on
01:57icy spots that could form. Okay, so what safety messaging do you want to relay to residents and
02:04visitors to follow? First things first is, if you can stay inside or stay home, please do.
02:11Keep up to date on the status of your business operations, your workplace operations,
02:17child care and school. Make adjustments as much as you can now for tomorrow. And again,
02:23stock up on abrasives. It's always important that for your property, for the sidewalks around your
02:28home, in your area, that you get out and maybe get some abrasives on there so that we can avoid
02:34slips, trips, and falls. As always, you can sign up for Alert DC messaging with us, where we push
02:40out messaging throughout the evening and into the early morning hours about what's going on in the
02:45city. All right, Clint Osborne, Director of DC Homeland Security Emergency Management. Thank
02:51you so much for your time, Clint.