Counties all over the area are making preparations for full snow removal ahead of the major storm expected Sunday night and one county in particular has taken an extra step to ensure the safety of its most vulnerable populations.
The Camden County Freeholder Board is offering assistance to senior citizens and disabled residents who are unable to remove significant snow amounts from their properties, according to the county's website.
"The snow removal program is available to help seniors and disabled individuals get out of their homes for necessities such as prescriptions or medical appointments," said Freeholder Scot McCray, liaison to the Camden County Department of Corrections. "The program uses Camden County Jail inmates who are carefully screened, non-violent offenders who are guarded at all times on the job site by corrections officers."
The Senior and Disabled Snow Removal Program will go into effect only after four inches of snow have fallen in Camden County, according to the Camden County website.
The crews plan to respond to calls in the order they are received and service as many as possible.
At-risk senior and disabled residents are told to contact the Camden County Office of Emergency Management at (856) 783-4808 ext. 5060, from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. after each snow storm.
The Camden County website states that calls for snow removal will only be taken after the snow has stopped. The crews will remove the snow once it has stopped falling and only during daylight hours from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
In regards to the entire county’s preparation, they plan to bring in 70 pieces of equipment and are supplied with plenty of brine and calcium chloride to pretreat the roads.
"We are set in resources," said Dan Keashen, Communications Director for Camden County. "It’s going to be an ‘all hands on deck’ snow removal operation."
The county is asking residents to use good judgment Monday. They ask residents to stay off the roads if possible in order to make snow removal operations more effective, call utility companies as soon as power is lost and to check on neighbors.