Closures
The Margie Weaver Senior Center is closed Tuesday for meals, services and events. However, staff is available and can be reached at (706) 344-3700.
Rock Creek and Veterans Memorial parks will close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in advance of the winter weather. All scheduled activities are also canceled.
Dawson County Schools are closed for students and staff on Wednesday.
Dawsonville City Hall is closed Wednesday.
Dawson County Health Department is closed Wednesday.
Lanier Technical College is closed Wednesday.
Canceled or postponed
The Dawson County Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Feb. 13 is canceled.
The Family Connection luncheon on Feb. 12 will be rescheduled at a later date.
Dawson County School Superintendent announced just before 2 p.m. today that schools are canceled for students and staff on Wednesday.
Dawson is among dozens of counties declared in a state of emergency by Gov. Nathan Deal in anticipation of what forecasters are predicting could be a catastrophic weather event.
Heavy snow, freezing rain and sleet are expected to reach historical levels, according to the National Weather Service.
President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration for Georgia Tuesday because of the winter storm.
A winter storm warning remains in effect until 1 p.m. Thursday with up to 9 inches of snow accumulation predicted.
Georgia DOT workers have already begun to plow snow and spread salt and gravel on the roadways in the northwestern Dawson County, including Hwy. 136 across Burnt Mountain.
Porter began watching weather forecasts and models over the weekend, before announcing that schools would be closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
This week's storm was reminiscent of the arctic weather system that shuttered businesses, government offices, schools and some roads the week of Jan. 27. Schools were closed Jan. 28-31.
The decision to close down schools is not one that Porter takes lightly, even more so given the amount of time lost from the previous storm.
"We are presently eight days short of a full calendar," he said. "We started the year with 178 days, which is two days short of a full 180-day calendar due to the budget."
The school board announced during its Feb. 4 work session that the system would be making up the previous missed days on Feb. 14, 17 and 18, as well as April 7.