storm preparations

Cities and Towns Prepare Ahead of Tonight's Nor'easter

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Some cities and towns in Connecticut are expecting more than a foot of snow by tomorrow morning and the preparations are underway.

The state and local transportation departments have already started preparing for the storm. The state has a new GPS device that allows them to track drivers and find out which roads need attention.

They've started hooking up their plows and filling up on salt. Some highways are already pre-treated ahead of the storm.

In Hartford, the city is banning street parking from 6 p.m. tonight through 6 a.m. on Friday. People can park in one of the city blue light lots starting today at noon or at one of the city schools beginning tonight at 6. Check here for more parking bans.

The City of Hartford is reminding drivers to move their cars as the city puts into place a parking ban ahead of the storm.

The state Department of Transportation has 1,300 operators, 634 state plows and 18 industrial loaders, but even with a large arsenal of resources ready to go, there are still some challenges, including COVID-19.

"We have over 100 employees that have tested positive, I have almost doubled that number that are waiting for test," said Conn. DOT Commissioner Joseph Giulietti.

The state DOT said it plans on bringing on contractors to help with cleanup, but smaller departments seem to miss out on that luxury.

"We're not that large of an agency where we can just backfill at any point. It's not that kind of a job that we can do so there may be roads that don't have any of attention for several hours," said West Hartford Director of Public Works John Phillips.

The big message from the state and local departments is to stay home and off the roads so they can plow and treat them.

NBC Connecticut meteorologists are tracking a major winter storm that will likely dump over a foot of snow in parts of the state Wednesday night into Thursday.

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