Winter weather skips Franklin

By Staff
Jason Cannon, FCT Publisher
The Franklin County EMA began making preparations Monday for what was expected to be a sever winter weather event Wednesday night but the weather never came and no one got to swing into action.
"We had put all the department heads on stand by," said Franklin EMA Director Carol Frederick. "They were all made aware of what we thought was coming. The city and county street departments were ready to start clearing the roads."
After meetings with the county's two school superintendents, the decision was made to delay school openings until 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
However, Franklin County residents awoke to more of a slush yesterday morning than the one to two inches of snow and ice that was forecast.
"It just never got as cold as they were expecting," Frederick said, "but you have to prepare for it anyway."
Frederick said her office had received no reports of downed trees as a result of what ice did form and was pleased with the outcome of what turned out to be a drill.
"I think everything went really well," she said. "We made plans to deal with the snow and ice and we were ready."
The county may get another chance to put that plan in place as another winter weather front is forecast to swing through the area next week.
While there is still plenty of time for the forecast to change Frederick said Old Man Winter has an ally this time: History
"It seems like every year, our worst winter weather comes in February."