Increased crashes, emergency calls in Dallas
Dallas police have responded to 23 crashes since midnight Sunday and more than 1,000 people have sought help at the city’s temporary shelter at Fair Park, officials said at a news conference Sunday evening.
Dallas Fire-Rescue Interim Assistant Chief Scott Pacot said crews have also responded to 36 falls and have seen increased call volume continue.
Transportation and public works crews are continuing to salt and sand major thoroughfares and routes for hospitals and emergency facilities, but city officials again repeated calls for folks to stay off roads. It is still not safe to drive, especially overnight and in the early morning when roads could have refrozen.
In addition to dangerous street conditions, cold weather and power outages have seen an unprecedented number of people seeking assistance with shelter or staying out of the cold.
Among the more than 1,000 people who have been to the Fair Park shelter, Austin Street Center CEO Daniel Roby said seven families have also been provided with temporary housing outside the shelter.
Those families include 10 adults and 13 children, Roby said. He said they were provided hotel rooms because the shelter is in a crowded auto show building at Fair Park and not the right environment for children.
City services will also see interruptions. Trash pickup will not happen Monday, resulting in the schedule for trash pickup being shifted back one day. Tuesday customers will receive trash pickup on Wednesday, and so on.
Clifton Gillespie, the city’s director of sanitation, said recycling should also be saved for next week. He added the schedule could change, whether it’s late starts or canceling pickup on additional days, depending on whether street conditions worsen in the coming days.
City Hall will be closed Monday and any committee or board meetings have been canceled. Libraries and rec centers will also be closed.
Animal services will open Monday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., adjusted hours in an attempt to keep staff safe on the roads. The landfill will also be open Monday at 9 a.m., weather and street conditions permitting.
Officials asked residents to check on neighbors and loved ones who may be vulnerable. People who know someone without heat or who needs other assistance is urged to call 311 to request help.
Sleet and snow ending, cold will hang around
Winter Storm Fern has brought around an inch to 1.5 inches of sleet to North Texas, and forecasters Sunday said not much more is expected.
Brennen Darrah, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, said there is potential for isolated snow showers that could “float around the area” Sunday. But as far as widespread precipitation goes, Darrah said that’s pretty much done.
Reports about accumulation don’t make much differentiation between snow and sleet, he said. In most cases, that’s because it was all or nearly all sleet.
But even as the storm moves out of the region, the National Weather Service is warning the cold will stick around for a while.
Icy road conditions and dangerous temperatures are forecast to last through Tuesday. Temperatures won’t make it out of the teens Sunday and will peak in the low-20s Monday, according to current forecasts.
It’ll start to warm up around noon Tuesday, with temps rising above freezing for the first time since Fern took hold of North Texas. Wednesday is expected to start below freezing again before climbing to 34 degrees by 6 p.m.
Even with temperatures rising above freezing Tuesday, raod conditions could still be hazardous Wednesday morning if they refreeze overnight.
Power outages are still hitting some areas of DFW as the storm bids the region farewell Sunday.
Across Dallas, Collin, Denton and Tarrant Counties, around 2,265 Oncor customers were without power around 11:30 a.m. Sunday, according to data from the company:
- Dallas – 594 without power, no estimate for how long restoration will take
- Collin – 508 without power, restoration expected by 5 p.m. Sunday
- Denton – 20 without power, restoration expected by 2:30 p.m. Sunday
- Tarrant – 1,143 without power, no estimate for how long restoration will take
Statewide, the company reports more than 24,000 customers without electricity.
This developing story will be updated as more details become available.
James Hartley is the Arlington Government Accountability Reporter for KERA News.
Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org. You can follow James on X @ByJamesHartley.
