12/21/16 - Mayor's Column: The O'Fallon Community's First Winter Storm of the Year
Last weekend, the season’s first winter storm hit the area, and its effects were challenging. I want to sincerely thank O’Fallon first responders and employees, especially police, fire, EMS and public works, and every O’Fallon resident for their help, dedication and bravery. Friday night’s storm was especially dangerous. While most winter storms move slow and deliberately, this storm defied the predictions of forecasters and hit the entire St. Louis area within one hour, froze nearly everything it touched, and dissipated nearly as quickly as it had appeared.
On Friday, December 16, pretreatments of the bridges and roadways began at 3:30 p.m., about one hour before the freezing rain began in O’Fallon. Additional personnel were called in at 4:30 p.m. and O’Fallon’s salt trucks continued to work on the roadways until 11:30 p.m., when the temperatures climbed back above freezing.
Throughout the night, O’Fallon also helped other local agencies treat roadways they could not reach. In addition to the roads the City of O’Fallon has jurisdiction over, we also treated the Interstate ramps, Highway 50 from Hartman to 3rd Street, and Simmons Road from Kyle to Bethel.
In addition to the storm’s difficult characteristics, it struck at the worst time: rush hour. It caused large accidents and traffic jams that impeded snow plows, fire trucks, ambulances and police cars.
O’Fallon personnel were again called to action on Saturday prior to a second round of freezing rain, and again early Sunday morning for snowfall.
In total over the weekend, O’Fallon utilized over 128 hours and 90 tons of salt to treat the roadways in O’Fallon.
O’Fallon Public Safety personnel did an amazing job. Beginning on Friday, and lasting through Sunday morning, telecommunicators at O’Fallon’s Consolidated Communications Center dispatched a total of 670 calls for service related to the weather. This was truly a test of talent and readiness, as this was only the second day of the consolidated center which now dispatches for three police departments (O’Fallon, Fairview Heights, and Shiloh), three fire departments (O’Fallon, Fairview Heights, and French Village) and O’Fallon Emergency Medical Services.
In addition, the O’Fallon Communications Center coordinated with multiple tow companies, two municipal street departments, St. Clair County and numerous private ambulance services.
The number of calls related to the weather they handled was amazing. Call totals of specific note over the weekend:
- 42 medical related calls
- 56 motorist assists
- 193 traffic accidents
- 8 fire calls.
In addition to the O’Fallon Police Officers already on duty at the beginning of the storm, twelve additional officers and the night shift were all called in to assist.
During the storm, O’Fallon’s Parks and Recreation Department mobilized to assist first responders and assist in keeping essential City facilities open. In all, O’Fallon Parks and Recreation Department utilized over 34 hours, 70 bags of de-icer, and two bulk shipments of salt in order to keep City facilities, like the Public Safety Facility and fire stations, open and operating.
The economics of snow/ice removal involve several different factors: amount of salt used, man-hours to clear the snow or ice (both straight time and overtime), workload on the equipment, and man-hours to repair and maintain the equipment during the event. We budget for snow and ice removal but each event is different, depending on the amount of snow or ice, how long the storm lasts, and whether wind causes drifting and requires multiple clearing of the same stretches of road.
The cost for just the street treatment during last weekend’s storm is estimated at around $25,000.
I want to thank everyone that assisted during last weekend’s winter storm. O’Fallon employees worked bravely and professionally to help our residents through the ice and cold.
I also want to thank the many members of the O’Fallon community that came together to help their neighbors. Many kind men and women helped others move their cars out of harm’s way or provided a warm spot to stay the night to those who were unable to make it home.
O’Fallon came together last weekend as a community to get through the first winter storm of the season, and that is yet another example of why O’Fallon is such a great community in which to live.