County under curfew starting at 6 p.m.
Columbus County will be under a nighttime curfew except for essential and emergency workers through Sunday morning.
The curfew lasts from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights. Only medical personnel, first responders and a few others may be on the highways during those times.
County commission chairman Ricky Bullard said the curfew, which was included in Thursday’s emergency declaration, is an effort to reduce the number of car crashes caused by icy roads.
“We’re concerned that there will be more ice accumulation than they originally thought,” he said. “People need to stay off the roads.”
Department of Transportation crews have been spraying brine on primary routes to reduce ice buildup, but DOT officials said too much rain could wash the brine off pavement. Salt and sand trucks are also on standby for after the storm.
Up to one-half inch of ice is possible in some areas. The precipitation is starting as rain in the southern and eastern parts of the county. That rain is expected to turn to frozen precipitation as temperatures — which have hovered around freezing all day— continue to drop.
Bullard said Duke Energy crews are staged at the county fairgrounds.
“We’re concerned it might be worse than we thought,” he said.
