As we brace for the Arctic blast headed to Southeast Louisiana, we are getting a look at how area officials are preparing for the forecasted conditions and what are their biggest challenges.
St. Tammany Parish President, Mike Cooper says as his parish is expected to see the worst of the precipitation so all hands are on deck.
"We have salt brine ready to deploy and keep roadways clear."
Cooper does advise though to stay off of the roads as the storm passes.
Over in Jefferson Parish, President Lee-Sheng says her concerns are regarding the fragile water system.
"We are expecting pipes to burst which could lead to boil water advisories."
Sheng says to help avoid widespread boil water advisories pipe wrapping instead of dripping water in homes is recommended. She says elevated homes have more pipes exposed and those residents should leave only one faucet on a spaghetti sized drip.
Shifitng our focus to local infrastructure, what can residents and service providers expect on roadways and bridges? Will the power go out?
Scott Boyle with DOTD says they will make sure that first responders and other emergency service providers will have as safe a roadway as possible.
"It starts with pretreating the roads. We will have crews out with a salt brine to coat the roadway before it ices."
When it comes to keeping the lights on, Jason Willis with Entergy New Orleans and Louisiana says it comes down to man power, which they have.
"We have about one thousand personnel staged to deploy should outages occur."
Snow is slated to begin in the early morning hours on Tuesday.
