City of San Antonio, Bexar County, CPS Energy, SAWS and TxDOT announce winter weather response efforts

CONTACT:
CITY OF SAN ANTONIO:
Laura Mayes
[email protected]; 210-207-1337
Michelle Vigil
[email protected]; 210-207-4494
BEXAR COUNTY:
Tom Peine
[email protected]; 210-335-0073
SAWS:
Anne Kenny Hayden 210-823-0194
CPS Energy:
Dana Sotoodeh, 210-353-2344

SAN ANTONIO (January 19, 2022) - The National Weather Service announced today that a cold front is expected to arrive in San Antonio at 7 p.m. today and temperatures will be at freezing (low 30s) in North Bexar County and approaching freezing (High 30s) in Central and South Bexar County. Winds are predicted at 20-30 mph with wind gusts up to 35 mph.

Rain is expected on Thursday with most areas seeing a light amount of winter precipitation. It is expected that bridges and overpasses will be icy. Rain and sleet are predicted Thursday night into Friday for North Bexar County. Temperatures are expected to be at or below freezing. Temperatures will be high 20s downtown until at least 10 a.m. Friday.

It is forecasted that temperatures will rise to 40's and 50's on Friday afternoon and falling below freezing late afternoon Friday into the evening hours. Some sleet and freezing rain predicted, with some potential for light snow. Temperatures are expected to be in highs to low 50s on Saturday for Bexar; Saturday night temperatures will be above freezing except North Bexar County.

To help residents prepare for winter weather, the City has issued a Winter Weather Preparedness Guide, which can be downloaded at this link. 311 will extend its hours of operation on Thursday from 7 p.m. to midnight. They will open early on Friday at 6 a.m.

Individuals should take proper precautions by remembering the Four Ps: People, Pets, Plants & Pipes.

• People: Keep warm and dress in layers. Check on your elderly family or neighbors.
• Pets: Bring pets inside to keep them safe and healthy.
• Plants: Bring potted plants inside. Cover outdoor plants with cloth fabric.
• Pipes: cover outdoor pipes and allow faucets to slowly drip to prevent them from freezing.

Roads and Traffic Infrastructure
TxDOT began pretreating the bridges and overpasses in Bexar, Kendall, Kerr and Comal Counties at 9 a.m. this morning. This operation has not been completed yet. TxDOT will have crews do another round tomorrow. They will activate their command post at TransGuide at 7 a.m. tomorrow. TxDOT has also posted their ice prevention operation on social media.
The Police and Public Works Departments are prepared to activate the City's Ice Plan, in coordination with TxDOT.
Warming Centers
Unsheltered individuals: The Human Services Department in coordination with non-profit Partners started outreach to unsheltered homeless yesterday and will continue through Sunday. Non-Profits have open temporary shelters primarily for overnight including:

• Haven for Hope
• Church Under the Bridge
• Corazon Ministries
• Life Restore Church
• City Church San Antonio.

General Public: Four overnight warming centers will open tomorrow, Thursday January 20 from noon to Friday, January 21 at noon. Transportation is available by calling 311 and pets are welcome.

• Garza Community Center: 1450 Mira Vista, 78228
• Harlandale Community Center: 7227 Briar place, 78221
• Hamilton Community Center: 10700 Nacogdoches Road, 78217
• Denver Heights Community Center: 300 Porter Street, 78210

COVID mitigation plans remain in full effect (i.e., maintaining social distancing and ensuring compliance with mask wearing where feasible).

CPS Energy
Freezing temperatures are not expected to be prolonged and uninterrupted like they were during Winter Storm Uri so energy supply is not expected to exceed demand and result in outages. Out of an abundance of caution, and to keep additional traffic off the roadways, CPS Energy walk-in centers will be closed Thursday, January 20. Walk-in centers will return to normal operating hours beginning Friday, January 21.
To stay informed about energy emergencies and other CPS Energy updates, customers are encouraged to sign up for Energy Alerts or call (210) 353-2222 to provide their emergency contact information.
Customers should always be prepared to activate their personal emergency plans, especially if they rely on medical equipment, and consider relocating if needed.
Customers can stay informed of outages by visiting CPS Energy's interactive Outage Map. Customers are advised to always make safety a priority. If using a power generator, be sure to use it safely. Running a generator improperly can be harmful and even deadly. Generator owners should follow the user manual for their safety and the safety of crews responding to an outage. For wore winter safety tips visit www.cpsenergy.com/wintersafety
SAWS
SAWS is monitoring the winter weather situation for San Antonio. Although we do not expect a repeat from last year's Winter Storm Uri, we encourage customers to protect faucets and pipes from the freezing temperatures to prevent burst pipes. Local hardware stores have foam insulation and faucet protectors, but even wrapping pipes with rags or newspapers will do in a pinch. For more information on this and other water-related tips, go to SAWS.org/BeReady
SAWS offices are currently scheduled to open on time.
Animal Care Services
Animal Care Officers will be on patrol through the rest of the week addressing potential violations and violators can face impoundment of their pet, fines up to two thousand dollars, and 180 days in jail for repeat offenders. New state law dictates dogs can no longer be tethered with chain at any time; however, the State and city animal laws also dictate dogs cannot be left outdoors restrained and unattended in the case of officially defined extreme weather or situations in which an animal is in severe distress.
Residents can report possible animal ordinance violations by calling the City's 3-1-1 Customer Service line seven days a week.

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