Conley, Rock Explain Snow Decision
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
County Commissioner Bob Conley and Emergency Management Director Ed Rock take issue with that.
Rock said that the map, from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, is not the same as declaring a state of emergency.
"They are two different things," said Rock.
Rock said the county had a plan in place to provide assistance to those stranded and is also a county that does rescues if needed.
Rock and Conley both took issue with the idea that by issuing a level four (red) or three (orange) advisory through the Homeland Security system it could force businesses to close.
"At that point it is still up to the business on whether they want to stay open or not," said Rock.
Rock said the county could have called a state of emergency, different than anything having to do with the Homeland Security map, but that it would then state that anyone traveling may not be able to receive assistance.
Rock said the county had plows at every EMS and fire station in the county in case of an emergency.
The Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department had extra officers, including detectives and drug task force officers, out on the road using pickup trucks and SUVs.
Between Tuesday afternoon, when the first snowfall began in Kosciusko County, and Wednesday, 99 traffic accidents were reported.
Of those, 87 were slideoffs, nine were property damage accidents and three were personal injury accidents.
The three personal injury accidents were "very minor," according to the sheriff's department.
One county resident sent the map into the Times-Union and asked why no snow emergency was declared.
"It seems all the other counties acted with some concern for public safety. Some people had to make the difficult trek to work because their employers only close under a state of emergency," said the reader.
"The crux of why we are not using that map is we don't feel it's the government's job to tell individuals how to act in this situation," said Rock who reiterated that a state of emergency had nothing to do with the Homeland Security map. "It does nothing to tell people they can't move."
Rock also said that an old map from Homeland Security dealt only with road conditions for a county. The new system has guidelines for people to follow.
Rock noted that the red level said that travel "may" be restricted and that it was still up to an individual if they wanted to travel.
Conley also said the commissioners didn't feel they should tell people what to do.
"We think people in Kosciusko County are astute enough to look outside and realize that if they are snow drifts that make it hard to travel they shouldn't leave their homes," said Conley.
Conley also said he felt there were a lot of scare tactics by the media in characterizing the weather.
"We feel people know what's best for them," said Conley.
Conley said that 90 percent of roads in the county were open Wednesday morning.
The commissioners did close county offices Wednesday. All the school corporations with students in Kosciusko County, Warsaw, Wawasee, Tippecanoe Valley and Triton, all were closed Wednesday.
Manchester Community Schools also was closed.
Today, Whitko and Manchester were closed while the other schools had two-hour delays.[[In-content Ad]]
County Commissioner Bob Conley and Emergency Management Director Ed Rock take issue with that.
Rock said that the map, from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, is not the same as declaring a state of emergency.
"They are two different things," said Rock.
Rock said the county had a plan in place to provide assistance to those stranded and is also a county that does rescues if needed.
Rock and Conley both took issue with the idea that by issuing a level four (red) or three (orange) advisory through the Homeland Security system it could force businesses to close.
"At that point it is still up to the business on whether they want to stay open or not," said Rock.
Rock said the county could have called a state of emergency, different than anything having to do with the Homeland Security map, but that it would then state that anyone traveling may not be able to receive assistance.
Rock said the county had plows at every EMS and fire station in the county in case of an emergency.
The Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department had extra officers, including detectives and drug task force officers, out on the road using pickup trucks and SUVs.
Between Tuesday afternoon, when the first snowfall began in Kosciusko County, and Wednesday, 99 traffic accidents were reported.
Of those, 87 were slideoffs, nine were property damage accidents and three were personal injury accidents.
The three personal injury accidents were "very minor," according to the sheriff's department.
One county resident sent the map into the Times-Union and asked why no snow emergency was declared.
"It seems all the other counties acted with some concern for public safety. Some people had to make the difficult trek to work because their employers only close under a state of emergency," said the reader.
"The crux of why we are not using that map is we don't feel it's the government's job to tell individuals how to act in this situation," said Rock who reiterated that a state of emergency had nothing to do with the Homeland Security map. "It does nothing to tell people they can't move."
Rock also said that an old map from Homeland Security dealt only with road conditions for a county. The new system has guidelines for people to follow.
Rock noted that the red level said that travel "may" be restricted and that it was still up to an individual if they wanted to travel.
Conley also said the commissioners didn't feel they should tell people what to do.
"We think people in Kosciusko County are astute enough to look outside and realize that if they are snow drifts that make it hard to travel they shouldn't leave their homes," said Conley.
Conley also said he felt there were a lot of scare tactics by the media in characterizing the weather.
"We feel people know what's best for them," said Conley.
Conley said that 90 percent of roads in the county were open Wednesday morning.
The commissioners did close county offices Wednesday. All the school corporations with students in Kosciusko County, Warsaw, Wawasee, Tippecanoe Valley and Triton, all were closed Wednesday.
Manchester Community Schools also was closed.
Today, Whitko and Manchester were closed while the other schools had two-hour delays.[[In-content Ad]]
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