Vehicles on streets: Move abandoned or parked vehicles off streets as a courtesy to neighbors and to allow city crews to complete plowing. Omaha’s city code says that no vehicle is allowed to be parked continuously in one place in the same block for more than 48 hours. Vehicles left longer are subject to towing at the owner’s expense. To complain about abandoned cars, call the Mayor’s Hotline, 444-5555.
Omaha garbage pickup: Crews are still behind but are catching up. Set out trash by 6 a.m. on your designated day, including Friday. New Year’s Day previously was scheduled as a holiday, but trash and recycling will be collected. Hilly areas in southwest Omaha have been unsafe for collection, and most alleys in southeast Omaha were impassable Monday. For now, leave trash out until it is collected. If your trash is missed, call 444-5238 after 7 p.m. on your designated day. If you can delay putting out recyclables for a week, it will help crews catch up.
Gas meters, pipes and regulators: Gently brush snow off with a broom or your hand. If your gas meter is encased in ice or covered by a huge snow pile, contact your utility. If you smell gas, call the Metropolitan Utilities District: 554-7777.
Sidewalks and driveways: Dig out snow and ice at the bottom of your driveway by Wednesday evening. Temperatures are to plummet by week’s end, and those piles will freeze solid. Keep pedestrians out of streets by shoveling sidewalks and making certain to clear the way at corners.
Mail: Carriers made about 45 percent of routes Saturday. U.S. Postal Service spokesman Roger Humphries said carriers were out in force Monday. But no mail is being delivered to boxes covered by snow.
Avoid frozen pipes: Zero to subzero temperatures are coming. Open cabinet doors if pipes are at risk of freezing. Open a tap so cold water trickles out. Insulate pipes.
Window wells: Dig snow out of window wells so it doesn’t melt and trickle into your basement.
Metro Area Transit: Most buses are back on schedule, though some neighborhoods are still too hard to reach, said Curt Simon, a spokesman for Metro Area Transit.
Be a good neighbor: Check on neighbors, especially the elderly and housebound.
Sarpy County: The county’s 34 snowplow operators had hit all the county’s 1,165 lane miles by Monday, said Rich Weber, highway superintendent. Weber said main roads were in good shape, and residential streets had at least one lane width plowed.
Douglas County: Major roads have been plowed, said Tom McDonald, the county’s manager of construction and maintenance. Drifting snow in some cul-de-sacs proved to be too much for snowplows. McDonald said the county was looking at ways to bring in heavier equipment.
Good news? This snow will insulate your landscape from the wind and subzero temperatures.
Sources: City of Omaha, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension; Metropolitan Utilities District; State Fire Marshal’s Office, Omaha Fire Department, U.S. Postal Service.
World-Herald staff writers Erin Grace, Rhonda Stansberry and Nancy Gaarder contributed to this report.
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