City of Arlington Issues Declaration of Disaster Due to Extreme Winter Weather Impacts
By Susan Schrock, Office of Communication
Posted on February 16, 2021, February 16, 2021

Winter Weather Update

As extreme winter weather conditions continued, the City of Arlington on Tuesday issued a Declaration of Disaster, opened daytime and overnight emergency warming stations and urged citizens with emergency issues related to power outages call 911 for assistance.

When 911 is called, the City will respond to the site and assess the situation and then determine what appropriate actions to taken. This will allow the City to effectively and systematically address all emergency issues associated with this weather event, Fire Chief Don Crowson said. Residents are asked not to call 911 to inquire about power outages.

With continued below freezing temperatures and high demand, ERCOT has continued to direct Oncor and utilities across the state to drop power load through maintained controlled outages. Customers should expect the power outages to our area to be prolonged, according to the latest Oncor updates. Additional snow and ice are in the forecast for Wednesday and temperatures are not expected to rise above freezing until later this week. The City is asking residents to shelter in place if possible. Road conditions are hazardous in some areas because of ice and snow and more people traveling on the roads has the potential to create a more dangerous situation for first responders.

On Sunday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced that the White House had issued a Federal Emergency Declaration for Texas, affecting all 254 counties in the state. On Tuesday, the City of Arlington and Tarrant County also issued declarations of disaster to become eligible for state and federal assistance needed to respond to and recover from emergency conditions created by the winter weather event.

Click here to read the City of Arlington’s Declaration of Disaster, issued on Feb. 16, 2021.

City Facility and Service Impacts

The extreme winter weather is affecting some City of Arlington services and facilities. Essential services, including police and fire, the 9-1-1 call center and street and water crews are still operational. City Hall and Municipal Office Tower, Municipal Court, libraries and recreation centers, Animal Services Center, Water Utilities South Service Center and the landfill are closed today and will be closed on Wednesday, Feb. 17. Via, Arlington’s on-demand rideshare public transportation service, Handitran, trash and recycling curbside collection services have also suspended service today and Feb. 17 due to the hazardous driving conditions. Click here for more information about City facility closures and service schedule interruptions.

Additionally, the Arlington Fire Department’s COVID-19 emergency mass vaccination site at Esports Stadium Arlington + Expo Center is closed until safer travel conditions prevail.

How to Report City Emergency and Non-Emergency Issues

Because of a power outage, the City’s government cable channel and the Action Center, the City’s information hotline at 817-459-6777, are currently not operational. Citizens who are seeking to make a non-emergency report can do so by using the free Ask Arlington app on their smartphone or by sending a message through Citibot, an interactive text messaging tool.

Additionally, citizens can send an email about non-emergency issues or emergency water and sewer issues to [email protected] for assistance.

Warming Station Information

The Salvation Army at 712 W. Abram St. is open as the City’s primary warming station.

Additionally, the City of Arlington has announced both a daytime and an overnight emergency warming station to assist residents without power during these extreme winter weather conditions.

The City’s Dottie Lynn Recreation Center at 3200 Norwood Lane will be open from noon to 8 p.m. today, Feb. 16, and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17. This location is not open for overnight shelter.

The Arlington Water Utilities South Service Center at 1100 S.W. Green Oaks Blvd. will be open as an overnight emergency warming station from 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16 to 8 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17 and from 8 p.m. Feb. 17 to 8 a.m. Feb. 18. Parking will be on the north side of the building, where the entrance is also located. 

To protect public health during the coronavirus pandemic, face masks and social distancing will be required at both facilities. Please click here for more important information about the emergency warming stations. 

For more weather-related information, please go the City’s of Arlington’s website, Facebook page or Twitter page.

Electricity and Natural Gas Outages Updates

Due to the extreme temperatures and high energy consumption, Atmos Energy and Oncor are asking the public to take steps to reduce energy use during this historic winter storm.

Click here for important information from Oncor about the extreme winter weather outages.

Click here to see the Atmos Energy known outages map or for more information on winter weather impacts.

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