Ahead of Minnesota’s storm of the century, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime emergency as many throughout the state prepare to hunker down for the next few days.
Walz joined News Talk 830 WCCO’s Vineeta Sawkar to discuss his reasoning behind declaring the emergency, part of which, he says, was to allow him to authorize emergency relief services if needed.
“I think Minnesotans, though we don’t panic, we take weather seriously,” Walz shared.
The governor said the peacetime emergency authorization allows him to get the national guard ready. However, he added that they did not need to call anyone in for deployment last night.
When it comes to how the state is responding to the bigger storm expected to start later on Wednesday, Walz shared that plow drivers with MnDOT are ready and working hard to clear roadways for Minnesotans.
In total, he says the department has 800 plows and 1,600 drivers ready to go to work.
“We can go around the clock. They were ready. They’ll be clearing off today and preparing for this,” Walz said.
Walz shared that as the storm picks up on Wednesday afternoon, Minnesotans need to do a risk assessment before taking to the roads, as travel will be treacherous.
When it comes to what concerns Walz the most about the storm, he shared that the wind picking up and creating whiteout conditions will be extremely dangerous.
“I always worry with extreme cold weather — that’s coming on Friday — that if you lose power… those are the things that I think we prepare for,” a little more than others, Walz shared, comparing the possibility to what has been seen in southern states when winter storms hit.
Walz compared the impending storm with the infamous Halloween blizzard more than 30 years ago, saying that the updates in forecasting and technology are something to be grateful for, as he didn’t know the 1991 storm was going to hit until it already arrived.
While he knows not everyone will heed the warnings, Walz encouraged Minnesotans to be prepared to “hunker down” when the storm hits, as traveling will carry serious risk.
Related
Related
