EMA monitors river levels ahead of possible snow storm

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- As a possible snow storm moves towards the area the city is gearing up to stay on top of the threat.

Current weather models are showing a possible snow storm heading our way. The storm could potentially dump up to 24 inches of snow in the area. Emergency Manager Director, Jeff Jadwin, said his department is monitoring the Muskingum River to be sure the snow won’t cause a flood.

“We’re starting to watch the river levels again so that as the storm front comes in if we get a lot of rain or we get the snow what we’ll be concerned with is the ice jams and stuff like that like we’ve been monitoring. Right now the river is down considerably. Most of the places when I just checked the river gauges this morning are less than half of what it takes to get to flood stage.”

Jadwin said his office will also send out alerts to citizens to keep them updated on any emergencies in the county. These alerts will notify the public of any emergencies related to snow or storms.

“I just want to get out to the public that with so many people doing away with their landlines that for us to get our emergency notifications out to them through our reverse 9-1-1 system, I need them to sign up. I need them to log on to citizensalert.org and fill out the information and then they’ll start getting the alerts to their cell phones.”

Jadwin said people can also call the office at 740-453-1655 to get help setting up the free emergency alerts.