WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Snow falls across SC

Snow falls across SC

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Snow is falling across much of South Carolina on Tuesday.

Snow has been reported from Greer to Beaufort, as well as from Greenwood to Myrtle Beach.

 Much of the state is under winter weather advisories or warnings.

Gov. Mark Sanford delayed the opening of state offices in a number of counties. Many schools across the area are closed, as well.

Despite the Martin Luther King holiday on Monday, city of Columbia workers installed plows, checked their vehicles and supplies and went over their response plan to prepare for the weather.

Robert Sweatt, a representative of the city, said Monday, "We'll have people patrolling the bridges and stuff through the night, making sure that if any ice or anything starts to form, we'll be ready and we can go out and salt and sand the bridges for the morning rush hour."

The crews got a bit of practice over the weekend when they put down salt and sand after ice formed around several water leaks.

And even though frozen precipitation is somewhat rare in the capital city, public works still tries to keep workers clued in on what to do about it.

"Once a year in November, we actually go ahead and mount everything to make sure it's working properly. And at that time we come in an update anyone who needs to be updated," Sweatt said.

Missy Gentry heads the city's public works department.

"We have loaded our salt and sand trucks. We've attached out snow plows," Gentry said.

She says in addition to the four salt and sand trucks already loaded, another one sits on standby just in case.

Her staff will work overnight, ready to go in case of bad weather and they don't cover the roads and bridges alone.

"We will mainly focus on the city limits. Bridges inside the city. DOT actually owns about 70 percent of roads in the city, so we coordinate with them to make sure we don't cover the same routes," Gentry said.

Officials also want your help. They want you to call authorities for any sort of water main breaks or downed power lines so a bad situation doesn't get worse.

Even though Gentry and her staff must prepare for bad weather, she says she would love to see some snow.

"No ice obviously, but snow would not be bad," Gentry said.

Reported by Jack Kuenzie, Jordan Sandler and Brandi Cummings

Posted by Bryce Mursch

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