Is Dallas prepared for the next winter storm?
That is a question the city is trying to get to the bottom of in a public safety meeting on Monday.
In a recently released memo by Assistant City Manager Jon Fortune, in October, the Dallas City Council approved the purchase of six mobile power units. The order includes a generator and HVAC equipment that can provide enough basic power and heating to a recreation center gymnasium.
However, due to ongoing supply chain issues, shipping on those mobile power units has been delayed. The city memo said delivery is not expected to happen until later this month.
In September, the city council also approved the purchase of eight fixed generators to be installed by Building Services at the following locations:
- Audelia Road Branch Library
- Beckley-Saner Recreation Center
- Jaycee Zaragoza Recreation Center
- Kleberg-Rylie Branch Library
- Mountain Creek Branch Library
- Pleasant Oaks Recreation Center
- Timberglen Recreation Center
- Marcus Mark Recreation Center
But city leaders said that installation will not be completed in time for this winter season.
Another option the city says it might fall back on this winter is again using private charter buses as temporary warming stations.
That’s something they deployed during last year’s winter storm to provide basic warmth and electricity on the go to neighborhoods that needed it most.
The city said they’ve also got a battle plan for water in the event of pipe bursts during extremely cold weather. In the event of a need for water distribution services, Procurement Services has identified vendors that can provide large-scale deliveries of bottled water. OEM also has approximately 1,000 five-gallon buckets that may be used for non-potable water
The public safety meeting begins at 1 p.m. Monday. The meeting will be streamed on the city of Dallas website.
