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New Orleans officials urge residents to stay off icy roads: ‘Don’t even try it’

Icicles form on a mailbox during a rare freeze in Ponchatoula brought on by Winter Storm Uri on Feb. 15, 2021.
Wesley Muller
/
Louisiana Illuminator
Icicles form on a mailbox during a rare freeze in Ponchatoula brought on by Winter Storm Uri on Feb. 15, 2021.

New Orleans is gearing up for what could be historic levels of snowfall starting Monday night.

National Weather Service forecasters are predicting anywhere from 4 to 6 inches of snow, along with sleet and ice.

Gilbert Montano, the city’s chief administrative officer, said if you’ve never driven in those conditions before, “don’t even try it. It’s profoundly difficult and it’s better to just stay home and stay safe.”

Montano and other local officials are urging residents to hunker down through at least Wednesday night.

Freezing temperatures are forecast nightly, with wind chill in the teens. Snowfall is expected to start Tuesday around daybreak and will continue on and off throughout the day, said Collin Arnold, the city’s head of disaster response.

The greatest change of snow is between noon and 6 p.m., he said, and is expected to start to taper off in the evening, around 9 p.m. to midnight.

Arnold said because of cold temperatures overnight, he expects the snow to “stick.”

With temperatures dipping below the freezing mark, city and parish officials have started opening warming shelters around Louisiana.

It will stay on the ground through Wednesday, potentially through Thursday morning, he said, when temperatures reach the 40s.

Officials said some roads with elevated ramps will be closed as early as tonight. Barricades will be set up and police officers will be present. Street closures will be listed online, according to the city’s head of police Anne Kirkpatrick.

Here are some other things you should know:

When it comes to preventing frozen pipes, the Sewerage and Water Board is asking customers to run a single faucet, not all of them, and just overnight. Run the one furthest away from your water line. A spaghetti-thin trickle is enough.

Officials are asking residents to conserve water, even as you drip your pipes. The water system experienced a drop in pressure Monday morning, leading to a boil water advisory for parts of the city.

If you see someone on the streets who needs shelter, call 311, said the city’s head of homeless services Nate Fields. The Rosenwald Recreation Center, at 1120 S Broad Street, is open as an emergency warming shelter. Fields said the city also has more beds available through its partners, including the Salvation Army.

The RTA will suspend ferry, bus and streetcar service starting this evening through midday Thursday, weather permitting.