Winter weather impacts Cass County

A chill began to blow in on Saturday, January 13, 2024, with a recorded low of a freezing 23 degrees Fahrenheit. The highest recorded temperature for the week came on January 14, with the high just barely bumping 59 degrees for a short time.

On January 15, precipitation was .19 with a half inch of snowfall accumulating over the night into the 16th. By Friday, January 19, the low was a frigid 10 degrees. The freezing temperatures along with the precipitation caused streets to freeze up making it nearly impossible for driving, which in turn caused closures around the community.

Even with the freezing temperatures the impact on the utilities was low. Local power companies such as SWEPCO and Bowie-Cass Electric, reported that outages due to the weather were few. They were short-lived and isolated incidents such as a down limb. All outages were quickly resolved within the same day the reports came in.

A SWEPCO Media Relations Representative, Doug Warner, stated to The Citizens Journal that in 2023, approximately 6,000 miles of overgrown rural terrain spanning Arkansas, East Texas and Louisiana, was addressed by SWEPCO and cut back or trimmed to protect the critical integrity of power lines. The use of a helicopter with a trimming blade rotating underneath was also used to cut back overgrowth near transmission lines. This played a vital role in why impacts were so low this year for weather related outages.

On Monday January 15, schools were closed because of the Martin Luther King holiday. However, the schools remained closed through Thursday. With much of our county being in a heavily wooded area, many of the streets and backroads were iced over making it unsafe for buses to pick up children.

Area police departments encouraged people to stay off the streets for safety reasons.

One of the more significant impacts of the weather was the water supply. To stop pipes from freezing area residents left their faucets on. With the increased water usage it caused the water reserves to be drained. On January 18, the City of Atlanta issued this notice.

“Due to water distribution system pressures below 20 psi, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the City of Atlanta Public Water System ID #0340001 to notify all customers to boil their water prior to consumption (e.g. washing hands/face, brushing teeth, drinking, etc.). Children, seniors and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions).

“To ensure destruction of all harmful bacteria and other microbes, water for drinking, cooking, and ice making, should be boiled and cooled prior to use for drinking water or human consumption purposes. The water should be brought to a vigorous rolling boil and the boiled for two minutes.

In lieu of boiling, individuals may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suitable source for drinking water or human consumption purposes.

“When it is no longer necessary to boil water, the public water system will notify customers that the water is safe for drinking water or human consumption purposes.

“Once the boil water notice is no longer in effect, the public water system will issue a notice to customers that rescinds the boil water notice in a manner similar to this notice.”

On Thursday evening the water main was shutoff for serveral hours On January 20, the water restrictions were removed, “The public water system has taken the necessary corrective actions to restore the quality of the water distributed by this public water system used for drinking water or human consumption purposes and has provided TCEQ with laboratory test results that indicate that the water no longer requires boiling prior to use as of January 20, 2024.”

Another serious consiquence of the freezing temperatures. Many of the community businesses were force to close during the freezing temperatures. The Atlanta Area Chamber of Commerce released this statement, “Many of us have been able to work remotely or blessed to continue with business as usual during our recent freezing temperatures. However, there are several who had to close their doors until the winter storm subsides. Let’s make sure to visit those that had a loss of two or more business days, give some encouragement and remind our community to support local.”