Authorities gear up for expected blizzard

AMMAN — Authorities on Tuesday said they were preparing for an expected polar front, forecast to bring accumulating snow to different parts of the country.

The Civil Defence Department (CDD) held an emergency meeting on Tuesday for heads of its directorates across the Kingdom to coordinate programmes, according to an official at the CDD media office.

“During the meeting today, the CDD set up an emergency plan to deal with the approaching blizzard,” the official told The Jordan Times.

The department is expected to issue warnings and safety instructions to the public on Wednesday, as well as its emergency plan, he said.

The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) said it will announce a state of maximum alert across the capital on Thursday in accordance with the updated weather forecast from the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD).

“According to the weather forecast, this blizzard will be a strong one. Therefore, the municipality will increase its precautionary measures and preparations for the expected extreme weather,” GAM Spokesperson Baker Abbadi told The Jordan Times.

He said Amman Mayor Aqel Biltaji held a meeting on Tuesday with GAM personnel and heads of the directorates that will be dealing with incidents resulting from snow accumulation and heavy rain.

“Our teams are already rechecking the safety and preparedness of the city’s infrastructure, bridges, tunnels, streets and manholes to avoid accidents,” Abbadi noted.

In addition, GAM emergency teams will be deployed across the capital to handle weather-related incidents.

The municipality will deal with the severe weather conditions via four operations centres as well as the main operations control room in Ras Al Ain, and will give priority in snow clearance to main roads, Abbadi said.

GAM is also contacting the private sector to rent its heavy machinery, he added.

The Ministry of Public Works and Housing has also prepared a main operations control room and 13 operations centres in the governorates in preparation for the expected blizzard, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted its secretary general, Anmar Khasawneh, as saying.

The ministry will rely on its vehicles for clearing snow from roads during the snowstorm, Khasawneh said, noting that contractors will be also responsible for snow clearance on 1,500 kilometres of roads during the snowstorm.

He added that heads of public works directorates across the country were given the authority to rent heavy machinery from the private sector when necessary, highlighting that many contractors are offering their vehicles to be used by the ministry during the extreme weather, according to Petra.

With the JMD forecasting sub-zero temperatures at night during the polar front, the Jordan Water Company, Miyahuna, called on its subscribers to insulate their water meters to protect them.

“Subscribers will incur the repair costs if their meters are damaged, which amount to JD25. More than 1,000 water meters were damaged due to freezing temperatures in early January’s blizzard,” a Miyahuna official said.

Subscribers must wrap their water gauges with burlap or a piece of cloth to protect them from damage, while any exposed water pipes should also be covered with burlap or rock wool to prevent freezing temperatures from damaging them, according to Miyahuna.

“Failure to adhere to the instructions will lead to damaged water meters, which means water cuts,” the official noted.

The country will be affected as of Wednesday night by a very cold polar front and a depression which will centre over Cyprus, according to the JMD.

The combined weather conditions will cause temperatures to drop 10 degrees below their annual average of 13C° during this time of year and is expected to bring heavy accumulating snow to most parts of the country until Saturday night.