Snow Removal The Virginia Department of Transportation is responsible for removing snow and ice from the thousands of miles of public roads in Fairfax County. Clearing is done on a priority basis, with interstates and high volume roads cleared first. Snow Removal FAQs Please contact VDOT at 703-383-8368, TTY 711, for more information.

Cold Temperatures and Wind Chill

If you are going to be outside, the American Red Cross encourages you to:

• Dress appropriately. Air temperature does not have to be below freezing for someone to experience cold emergencies such as hypothermia and frostbite. Wind speed can create dangerously cold conditions even when temperatures are not that low.
  
  
• Dress in layers to adjust to changing conditions. Avoid overdressing or overexertion, which can lead to heat illness.
  
  
• Wear a hat, preferably one covering your ears, because most body heat is lost through your head.
  
  
• Wear mittens as they provide more warmth to your hands than gloves.
  
  
• Wear waterproof, insulated boots to help avoid hypothermia or frostbite by keeping your feet warm and dry, and to help maintain your footing in ice and snow.
  
  
• After coming inside, immediately get out of wet clothes and warm the core body temperature with a blanket or warm fluids such as hot cider or soup. Avoid caffeine or alcohol in cases of hypothermia or frostbite.

 

Frostbite and Hypothermia

According to the National Weather Service, frostbite is damage to body tissue caused by extreme cold. A wind chill of minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit will cause frostbite in just 30 minutes. Frostbite causes a loss of feeling and a white or pale appearance in extremities, such as fingers, toes, earlobes or the tip of the nose. If symptoms are detected, get medical help immediately. If you must wait for help, slowly rewarm affected areas. However, if the person is also showing signs of hypothermia, warm the body core before the extremities.

Hypothermia is a condition brought on when the body temperature drops below 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Warning signs include uncontrollable shivering, memory loss, disorientation, incoherence, slurred speech, drowsiness and apparent exhaustion. Take your temperature and if it is below 95 degrees, seek medical attention immediately.

Fairfax County’s emergency homeless shelters have additional capacity during winter months to take in people overnight who are at risk of hypothermia. More information about the shelters is available online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dfs/factsheets/emershelter.htm. If you see someone at night who is unsheltered and you think could be at risk of hypothermia, call the county’s non-emergency phone line at 703-691-2131, TTY 711.

 

Emergency Supply Kit

Because ice storms and blizzards can knock down power lines, freeze water pipes and prevent you from traveling, county residents should be sure to have a home emergency supply kit, including:

• At least a three-day supply of food that won’t spoil.
  
  
• One gallon of water per person, per day.
  
  
• A battery-powered radio (people with hearing impairments should consider signing up for the Community Emergency Alert Network – CEAN – at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/cean and obtaining a cell phone with text messaging capacity to receive CEAN messages).
  
  
• A flashlight with extra batteries.
  
  
• A first-aid kit.
  
  
• An extra supply of prescription or over-the-counter medicines.
  
  
• A plan for those with special needs who may need to come stay in your home because they lost utilities from a storm. Those with special needs could include the elderly, people with disabilities and the medically frail.

 

Freezing Pipes and Plumbing

Fairfax Water encourages residents to take the following preventative actions to protect home plumbing:

• Locate and mark the main water cutoff valve for your home. This cutoff valve is usually found near where the waterline comes into your house. Damage from running water can be minimized if you can turn off this valve quickly.
  
  
• Make sure the waterline to outside faucets is turned off and the line is drained. Consider wrapping or insulating your water pipes, especially those pipes near outside walls, under the house or in the attic. Insulation supplies are available at local home improvement or hardware stores.
  
  
• Eliminate drafts. Check around the home for areas where water supply lines are located in unheated areas and take measures to prevent the flow of cold air in these areas. Look in the basement, crawl space, attic, garage and under kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Both hot and cold water pipes in these areas should be insulated. A hot water supply line can freeze just as a cold water supply line can if water is not running through the pipe and the water temperature becomes cold.
  
  
• If a water pipe freezes, never try to thaw it with an open flame or torch. You can use a hair dryer or portable heater, but always be careful of the potential for electric shock in and around standing water.
  
  
• If you will be away from your home, keep the thermostat at a reasonable temperature to make sure all areas with water pipes are kept above freezing.

If you suspect you have a frozen water meter, call Fairfax Water for help. Service crews are available 24 hours a day and will respond as soon as possible. You can reach Fairfax Water’s Customer Service Department at 703-698-5800, TTY 711. After hours, the emergency number is 703-698-5613, TTY 711. Additional information can be found at www.fairfaxwater.org.

If you are vacating your home because you have lost your heat source, locate and turn off your main water cutoff valve. After the valve is turned off, open a faucet on each level of your home to allow for expansion should the undrained water freeze. If you are staying in your home or will be monitoring your home frequently, allow a faucet to drip cold water slowly. At a minimum, the dripping faucet should be the one that is the greatest distance from your main water cutoff valve. Consider allowing a slow drip in areas that are least protected from the cold (basements, crawl spaces, attics and garages).

 

Clearing Snow and Debris

Residents and businesses can help alleviate potential flooding and protect the environment this winter season by keeping the openings of storm drains clear of snow and debris. Simple steps include:

• Remove snow and debris, such as leaves, grass clippings and trash from the outside openings of storm drains.
  
  
• Avoid piling snow in front of a storm drain.
  
  
• Avoid blowing leaves and cut grass into the street, which may travel to a storm drain in rain and melted snow.
  
  
• Be sure to read labels to avoid overuse and misuse of fertilizer; properly maintain cars to prevent oil leaks; and pick up pet waste and dispose of it in a trash can. These pollutants may be collected by rain and melted snow and travel to storm drains, which lead to streams, or in some cases, first to a stormwater management facility and then a stream.

If a storm drain opening is blocked, residents can remove the debris from the outside opening. At no time, however, should a resident attempt to enter a storm drain to remove debris. Residents can also call Fairfax County Stormwater Management, 703-934-2800, TTY 711, or the Virginia Department of Transportation at 703-383-8368, TTY 711, to report a blocked storm drain. Property owners, however, are responsible for driveway culverts and bridges that are part of the driveway structure and are not public storm drainage system structures. Storm drains outside rights-of-way and easements are privately maintained by the property owner.  For more information about storm drainage and stormwater facilities, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/navbar/faqs/stormdrainage.htm. For more information about protecting and restoring streams, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/stormwater.

 

Pet Safety

Pets should be kept indoors during winter months. If a pet is outdoors, by law, it must be provided with shelter. The pet’s house should be elevated off the ground to prevent moisture accumulation and have a door of some kind to keep out winter winds, sleet and snow. Shelters should be insulated or heated. In severely cold or inclement weather, no pet should be kept outside.

Indoor pets should have sleeping quarters in a draft-free, warm area with their bed or mattress elevated slightly off the floor. For bedding, use hay or other non-absorbent materials that will remain dry during inclement weather. Other tips to keep pets safe include:

• Don’t let dogs off their leash or they may get lost and suffer from cold-weather related problems.
• Snow and salt should be removed from pets’ paws immediately to avoid burning the paw pads. Use a pet-safe de-icing salt.
• Frostbitten skin is red or gray. Apply warm, moist towels to thaw out frostbitten areas slowly until the skin appears flushed. Contact your veterinarian as soon as possible for further care.
• Outdoor pets require extra calories to keep warm so feed your pet a little more during cold winter months.
• Be sure your pet’s water doesn’t freeze while outdoors by using a heated water source.
• Cats, house pets and wildlife may climb onto vehicle engines for warmth during cold weather. Be sure to check under the hood before starting your vehicle and honk the horn to startle any animals seeking shelter inside.

 

Ice Safety

Ice skating on county ponds, lakes and retention ponds is prohibited for safety reasons. Due to fluctuating temperatures, it is not safe to venture on any ice-covered lake, stream or stormwater retention pond. Even if the ice is a foot thick in one area, it can be 1-inch thick just a few yards away.  It’s impossible to judge the strength of ice by its appearance, thickness, daily temperature or snow cover alone. Ice strength is actually dependent on all four factors, plus water depth under the ice, the size of the body of water, water chemistry, currents and distribution of the load on the ice.

If you fall through the ice, don’t panic. If there is someone with you, have them lie down on the ice to distribute weight over a wider area and pass you the end of a branch, rope, belt, coat sleeve or whatever is available to help pull you onto the ice, where you can roll or wiggle to safety. Several people can form a human chain with the lightest person reaching out to you. If you’re alone, get your arms onto the ice and kick hard with your feet to help lift you onto the ice, then roll to safety.

 

Home Heating

Fairfax County residents who face an emergency heating situation this winter may be able to access assistance from a federally funded program locally administered by the county’s Department of Family Services.

The Crisis Assistance program helps eligible low-income households in emergency situations by providing primary heat security deposits and funding the repair or replacement of heating equipment. The Crisis Assistance program application period began Nov. 1, and closes on Monday, March 17, 2008. To apply, call the Department of Family Services’ energy assistance phone line at 703-324-7604, TTY 703-222-9452, and ask for an application to be mailed to you, or pick up an application at any of the department’s four offices:

• Fairfax - Pennino Building, 12011 Government Center Parkway
  703-324-7500, TTY 703-222-9452.
• Falls Church - 6245 Leesburg Pike (Route 7)
  703-533-5300, TTY 703-533-5316.
• Reston - Lake Anne Office Building, 11484 Washington Plaza West
  703-787-4900, TTY 703-707-9346.
• Richmond Highway/Alexandria - South County Center, 8350 Richmond Hwy (Rt. 1)
  703-704-6353, TTY 703-799-3435.

The Department of Family Services offers extended office hours for public assistance services at all of the offices listed above, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays, and from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays. Applications are also available on the Web from the Virginia Department of Social Services at www.dss.virginia.gov.

 

 More Information

• Winter Preparedness Tips for People With Disabilities (Fairfax County)
• Frozen Water Pipes (Fairfax County)
• Seasonal Safety Information (Fairfax County)
• Snow Removal (Fairfax County)
• Winter Water Tips (Fairfax Water)
• Snow Removal (Virginia DOT)
• Winter Preparedness (Virginia Emergency Management)
• Winter Storm Information (American Red Cross)