Weather Testing To The Limit

Kansas City, Mo. – In midst of two weeks of snow and bitter cold, even worse is coming. Those are warnings extending from weather forecasters to highway departments to companies that provide electricity.

KCP and L crews today and tonight are checking heaters that keep electrical transmission equipment working. Bill Hurden, a vice president of the utility cautions people be prepared for outages because sometimes there is no defense against weather. Hurdegen says relay equipment works slower and causes outages. Deep snow slows crews on foot trying to reach trouble spots off streets and highways.

Warren Zeller is Kansas City District Bridge Engineer for MODOT. He expects 4 to 5 inches of snow to fall tomorrow. Then winds will howl--"40 degrees below zero maybe, so that's going to be dangerous for people, even being outside."
Zeller says snow melting chemicals barely work when it's around zero. And winds will make visibility vanish. He cautions against driving once snow starts tomorrow.

Hurdegen says if you're in trouble and see a KCP and L crew, flag them down, ask them to radio for help.