HABERSHAM COUNTY, Ga. — Habersham County officials are preparing for dangerous travel conditions, downed trees and a surge in emergency calls as a significant winter storm moves into Northeast Georgia, bringing heavy snowfall, strong winds and bitterly cold temperatures.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service warned county leaders Friday afternoon that snow would begin spreading across the region Friday evening, intensify overnight and peak Saturday morning before tapering off later in the day. The storm is expected to produce several inches of snow across the area, with temperatures remaining below freezing through the weekend and wind chills dropping to near or below zero.
Chris Horne, observing program leader with the National Weather Service office in Greenville-Spartanburg, said the combination of very cold air and “light, fluffy” snow will allow accumulation to occur quickly on roadways.
“We are expecting this snow to stick to roadways much faster than we normally see in the Carolinas,” Horne said, adding that blowing snow and strong winds could sharply reduce visibility, particularly in higher elevations.
County emergency officials said crews are already in place and ready for extended operations.
Habersham County Emergency Services Chief Jeff Adams told Now Georgia staffing levels remain strong after crews worked through Winter Storm Fern last weekend.
“They’re good. Staffing is good,” Adams said. “We’ve got the crews lined up to come in this weekend, come in early and be prepared to hang over, pretty much like they did last week.”
Adams said snow presents fewer challenges for response vehicles than ice but emphasized that road conditions will still be hazardous.
“The snow is a little bit easier for four-wheel-drive vehicles to drive on,” he said. “We’re still asking people: stay at home, stay off the roads. It’s more important that our guys get there and that they’re safe about it.”
Reflecting on last weekend’s storm, Adams said most calls during Winter Storm Fern were related to downed trees, with relatively few medical calls until after conditions improved.
“Once the storm was over, then the medical calls started to pick up,” he said.
Habersham County Road Superintendent Matt Ainsworth said road crews will focus first on main routes before moving to secondary roads as snowfall increases.
“We’re going to pre-treat the main roads and some intersections,” Ainsworth told Now Georgia. “Then we’re going to focus on the snow as it drops, plowing secondary roads and salting them as we’re plowing.”
Ainsworth said crews will make real-time decisions on when to salt, noting that many county roads are narrow and resources must be used carefully.
“They have to plow one road and then salt it,” he said. “We don’t want to waste the salt.”
Ainsworth said last weekend’s ice storm was especially difficult but credited crews for their performance and expressed confidence heading into this event.
“Our guys did a great job handling that ice storm,” he said. “Now we have the snowstorm coming up, so I have no worries about how this is going to end.”
He added that morale remains high among road crews.
“This is our family away from our family,” Ainsworth said. “We know we’re going to have some tough times, but we work through it.”
At Habersham County E-911 and Emergency Management, Director Melanie Bellinger said extra staff will be on hand throughout the weekend to handle increased call volume.
“Yes, we have extra personnel in here to assist us with the call volume, because it increases,” Bellinger told Now Georgia.
She said 911 calls often double during winter storms and can triple depending on severity.
“Most of the time it doubles,” Bellinger said. “But depending on how hard it hits, it can triple our call volume.”
During Winter Storm Fern, Bellinger said the county received relatively few accident-related calls, with no injuries reported in about five traffic incidents. Tree- and power-line-related calls, however, surged.
“We were looking at 120 to 150 calls for tree lines and things like that,” she said.
Bellinger said similar issues are possible with this storm as winds increase and snow accumulates on trees.
“When wind gusts come in and snow sticks to surfaces, it will still bring down trees,” she said.
Officials continue to urge residents to avoid travel during the height of the storm and to call 911 only for emergencies, noting that extreme cold, blowing snow and refreezing conditions could make roads treacherous well into next week.
