(Seguin) Local emergency officials want to make sure you’re prepared for this week’s colder weather. Guadalupe County and city of Seguin officials are sending out words of advice as temperatures drop below the freeze mark for much of the week.
Patrick Pinder, Guadalupe County Emergency Management Coordinator and Fire Marshal, says they’ve been reminding people to take the necessary steps to keep themselves safe and warm.
“We just need to make sure that folks are prepared for the cold weather. We want to make sure that you’re wrapping your pipes, you’re protecting your pets, your plants, and things like that — making sure that you have what you need to stay warm. A lot of times what we see is heaters start coming out, and we want to make sure that folks have made sure that those things are working properly. We want to make sure that if you’re using any kind of gas appliance, that you’re making sure you have clearance around those things and also your heaters. On the pet side, we want to make sure that if you’re using heat lamps, which we see a lot of, just make sure that you have enough space so that the animals can’t touch and knock it down and catch things on fire. The main thing is just getting prepared,” said Pinder.
Pinder says hopefully people have already checked out their heating units to make sure that they can safely be used during this current cold snap. “We want folks to make sure that everything is working properly. If you haven’t had your your A/C units or heater service, you want to do that once (or twice) a year — in the summer and in the winter, and make sure everything’s working properly. If you have a gas appliance, you want to make sure your pilot lights are on and that you don’t have any kind of gas issues. You want to make sure that you have all your propane tanks or gas tanks full coming into this colder weather. During these colder seasons, just to make sure that you do have enough to make sure that you’re staying warm,” said Pinder.
Pinder says bringing in plants or wrapping pipes are steps that are fairly easy to take, but he says people need to make sure they keep their outdoor pets or other animals in mind as well. He says anything living needs to be protected from these freezing temperatures.
“Unfortunately, this cold weather does affect them. You know, some of the larger livestock — they’re prepared a little bit better. You have some of the barns and things in this community that folks can put animals in, but leaving the dogs outside in this weather is not good for them and cats and things like that. If you can bring those animals in — maybe in an outside room or things like that – and just get them out of the wind and make sure that they’re safe. Make sure if you’re using any kind of heat lamp or anything like that, that it is out of the way of the pet, because we see so many fires from heat lamps getting knocked down onto a surface,” said Pinder.
The city of Seguin is also reminding folks about the Four-P’s. Seguin Public Information Officer Jennifer Sourdellia says “people, pets, plants and pipes” all need to be protected. In addition to the advice, Sourdellia says the city is also offering warming stations for people who don’t have access to an adequate heat source.
“If anyone needs shelter, we do have a warming center set up in our Community Room at the Seguin Public Library. It’s going to be open during our normal operating hours, which are Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully by Friday, all of this will kind of move through the area, and we won’t need to worry about this anymore. If there is any additional information that’s needed on shelters, you can reach out to our city police department’s non-emergency phone (number). That number is 830-379-2123, and they can guide you in the right direction, as far as if there’s any other shelter and information out there,” said Sourdellia.
Sourdellia says this is also a good time to check on others. She says we need to make sure that everyone stays warm.
“Be sure to check on your family and friends and your neighbors, those who may be more vulnerable or may not have access to housing or heating. Be sure to check on your older family members and also people with disabilities,” said Sourdellia.
City and county crews will also be on standby this week just in case icy roadways become an issue.
“We will have our public works crew on standby late Wednesday into Thursday to sand the streets, in case we’ve got any ice on our roadways. I also want to encourage people, that for roadway conditions, to be sure to check TXDOT’s drivetexas.org website. That way you can always make sure you know what the road conditions are. I want to also mention that if we do have those icy roads on Thursday, it is very possible that could be delay residential garbage routes. So, please be patient with our garbage truck drivers that day,” said Sourdellia.
The cold weather warnings this week may remind you of some of the things that were said a few years ago during Winter Storm Uri. That winter storm produced ice and snow and knocked out power around the state. Pinder says it doesn’t look like we are heading for that type of situation this time.
“We’re seeing cold temperatures. We’re going to see a little moisture coming out of the inner layer later in the week. We’ve had higher temperatures around us throughout the days. (Sunday) was in the 70s. So, the ground is not frozen…so, that helps things. As the temperatures come down and the moisture comes in, we shouldn’t see any kind of things sticking to the ground — if we do have enough moisture. We are prepared for that. The county and the state are listening to weather service calls and daily reports. We’re watching the roads, and we’re going to continue to do that throughout the rest of this week,” said Pinder.
Local school officials say they are also monitoring the weather this week. They say they will alert the public if there are any schedule changes due to this week’s weather.