AccuWeather's Ali Reid caught up with VDOT to hear how crews are responding to heavy snow in a part of Virginia that rarely gets it.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00So right now we start and we're going to head to Suffolk, Virginia where it's been a cold and blustery day.
00:06Accuweather's Allie Reed is there with more. Allie, I can see the snow falling.
00:15Right guys, and we started our journey in Richmond, Virginia. That was way earlier this morning.
00:20The snow actually started coming down there until we said, you know what?
00:24We're going to see a decent amount of snowfall here in the Hampton Roads area.
00:28Anywhere from 9 to 12 inches. They could potentially be seeing up to a foot of snow.
00:33I-664 just behind me here. This is one of the major roadways in this area.
00:37Tim, I know you have a long day ahead of you with VDOT. Talk to me about what this morning
00:41looked like for you guys and kind of where you're at right now in the thick of this.
00:44Well, we've moved into 24-hour operations now. Crews are working on 12-hour shifts.
00:48The biggest thing, we've completed our brining activity this morning and as I said,
00:51moved into those 24-hour operations. Right now, crews are continuing to mobilize.
00:56They're out and about on the roadways, seeing what areas that need to be treated with salt
00:59as far as ahead of this and then the plowing activity starting. Generally,
01:02when we get around two inches on the ground, they're going to be out there plowing in earnest.
01:05Now, what we were talking about way earlier when I first contacted you, I said,
01:09what's really interesting about this area, you have a lot of miles that you guys cover
01:14across the state. All of them, for the most part, major roadways. So, this is a big undertaking for you guys.
01:21Most definitely. Just in the Hampton Roads District with VDOT, we cover about 10,000 road
01:26miles as far as across our district alone. And again, an event like this, a snow event like this,
01:30very unique. Probably haven't seen anything like this in about a decade. And so, it's going to be
01:35an interesting event. It's going to be a multi-day event. So, we're preparing people to stay indoors
01:40or stay off the roads, which is the biggest message we have right now.
01:43Now, obviously, you cannot speak for the police department or any other departments out there.
01:47As we were taking a drive around, we already know an hour, two hours into this with snowfall,
01:52already significant snow on the ground here. We've seen those crashes. We've seen accidents
01:57happening on those major roadways. Biggest thing that you could say for drivers right now,
02:01slow it down or stay off the roads if possible. Stay off the road. That's the basic message
02:04right there. Again, we want to ensure the safety of motorists. We want to ensure the safety of
02:08emergency responders who may be responding to those incidents like you talked about,
02:11as well as our crews are going to be out there, again, trying to plow that snow.
02:15Now, we know that we're very early on here in this snowfall. Unfortunately, the snow going to
02:21be getting a lot worse as conditions continue throughout the evening. And I'm sure that's a
02:26big talker also, is what tonight and early tomorrow morning will look like for you guys.
02:30And again, this is going to be a multi-day event. So, again, as you said, obviously,
02:33the snow has started, but it's going to continue tonight. And we're looking into tomorrow,
02:36possibly even maybe early afternoon. Some of the forecasts are kind of indicating. So,
02:40again, we're looking at a sustained event, a very concentrated event. And that's something
02:44that definitely has our attention and definitely has our forces mobilized and responding as we
02:48speak. Final question for you guys is the fact that you guys do not tackle this, like you said,
02:53as much as you typically do. This is a big thing for you guys, but it seems like you guys are
02:57getting a good grasp on it so far. Yes, we have over 400 snow plowing vehicles that are going to
03:02be mobilized and in action as far as over the course of the storm. So, we've gotten resources
03:06from other areas around the state, as well as contractors coming in to help us out to tackle
03:10this event. Tim, thank you so much. We're going to continue to follow this over the next couple
03:14of hours. This is just the start of it. Just the start. Look at this. Just the start, guys,
03:19here in Hampton Roads, the region here in Virginia. We're going to bring you lots more
03:24throughout the evening. All right. Thank you so much for that update, Allie.