ANATOMY OF A SNOW PLAN

At a "snow summit" called on September 30, 1987, metropolitan Washington area officials at the local, state, and federal levels approved an interim plan developed by the Council of Governments' (COG's) Snow Emergency Task Force. In October it was ratified unanimously by the COG Board. This article reviews the development of the Unified Regional Snow Emergency Concept Plan from its inception at a meeting of area elected officials and representatives from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) in February, 1987, to its actual application during a freak snowstorm on November 11, 1987. The 70-page snow plan concentrates on four major areas: transportation, communications, decision making, and public information. Essential to its success is the careful definition of terms agreed on by the governments. The plan will be set in motion in a "Regional Snow Emergency." A Regional Snow Emergency is defined as the declaration by four or more local jurisdictions or state agencies in two or more sub-regions of local snow emergencies. A snow emergency is a serious disruption or threat to life, commerce, public order, and continuity of government caused by snow, sleet or freezing rain. Four snow phases are defined: the alert phase, the readiness phase, the operations phase, and the recovery phase. The areas of most intense discussion during plan development involved provision for a regional snow information center and the procedure to follow in case snow forced the early dismissal of the area's work force. The regional snow information center was finally eliminated; the regional dismissal plan stayed.

• Corporate Authors:

  Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

  1875 Eye Street, NW, Suite 200
  Washington, DC  United States  20006
• Authors:
  • Geli, J
• Publication Date: 1987

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos;
• Pagination: p. 9-14
• Serial:
  • THE REGION
  • Volume: 28
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: REGION (WASHINGTON, D.C.).

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cooperation; Disaster preparedness; Disasters and emergency operations; Federal government; Local government; Regional planning; Snow; State government; Storms; Winter
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I62: Winter Maintenance; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00464682
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 31 1988 12:00AM