KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Utility companies and municipalities across the Kansas City area are getting ready for the latest winter storm expected to begin early Thursday morning.
The storm is expected to bring a mix of rain, ice and snow.
RELATED | Weather Blog: Snow in Kansas City's forecast for Thursday
Power outages are a concern, and Evergy spokesperson Andrew Baker said tree trimming before the storm is one preventative measure Evergy does.
"The number one cause for outages that we see is due to trees and powerlines, downed powerlines. So, we have that tree trimming program in place to cut tree limbs that are near power lines to put ourselves in the best position possible in a storm like this," Baker said.
Baker added that Evergy has a full staff ready to respond to outages and contractors on standby if they need more.
Local governments are also getting ready for the storm with pre-treatment of roads and staff for plowing.
In Kansas City, Kansas, crews will not risk pre-treatment that will be washed away because of rain.
"We're going to monitor the situation and respond as necessary. The difficulty with the rain is that it washes away the salt," Dave Reno, Public Works community engagement officer with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County, said. "So, we're going to conserve salt for use tomorrow during plowing operations because we think that the temperatures are going to come back up."
Reno added there will be a full crew of 60 people who will work 12 hour shifts during the storm.
The approach to the storm is different across the border in Kansas City, Missouri.
City spokesperson Maggie Green said 300 people were pre-treating roads on Wednesday ahead of the storm and nearly 200 will continue that work overnight.
"Aggressive pre-treatment has been part of KCMO's strategy for this snow season," Green said. "We've been trying to invest more with drivers and salting in our snow plan and so we have seen success in the last few couple of snowstorms with that aggressive pre-treatment so it's something we're automatically starting to do with every snowstorm."
Green also said that trash and recycling collection in Kansas City, Missouri will be suspended Thursday and Friday, so the drivers can help with snow plowing.
