The American Red Cross has opened a 24-hour shelter at the Dickson YMCA with support from the City of Dickson for anyone who needs a warm, safe place to stay during the current severe winter weather event. The City of Dickson is partnering with the Red Cross and YMCA to provide support, supplies and food.
The Dickson Police Department is offering transportation to residents of the City of Dickson who need to get to the shelter but are unable to drive. To arrange transportation, call Dickson County Emergency Communications’ non-emergency number at 615-446-8041.
Anyone going to the shelter is advised to bring any blankets or pillows to be comfortable and all medications or medical devices such as wheelchairs, walkers or oxygen. Pets are not allowed.
There are about 60 cots available. The YMCA has showers and is providing food donated by local restaurants.
The YMCA opened as an overnight warming station as temperatures began to drop and housed four people Friday night and 10 people Saturday night. That number grew to about 30 on Monday as power outages continued due to downed trees and lines.
The Tennessee River Chapter of the Red Cross brought in staff and volunteers to begin operating the shelter Monday morning. It will remain open around the clock as long as needed.
Mayor Don L. Weiss and his administrative staff met with YMCA Director Paul Pitney, Red Cross Disaster Program Manager Jay Lovendusky and Tennessee River Chapter Executive Director Stacey Levine Monday afternoon to discuss needs and contingencies for addressing shelter needs. The City has the Senior Activity Center on standby as a secondary shelter, if needed.
City of Dickson Public Works crews have been clearing downed limbs and trees and plowing and salting city streets based on a priority schedule. The Tennessee Department of Transportation has been plowing and applying brine to state highways, which includes Highways 46, 96, 47, 48 and 70 inside the city, as well as Interstate 40.
City of Dickson administrative offices will be closed again Tuesday, Jan. 27, due to continuing hazardous road conditions. The city will not run sanitation routes Tuesday and leaf/brush pickup has been suspended so all crews are available to work on clearing roads. The Dickson Senior Activity Center will remain closed as long as Dickson County Schools are closed due to weather.
Dickson Electric System has reported “significant and widespread damage” to its infrastructure with more than 21,000 customers without power. DES reports all of its crews and crews brought in from other areas are working around the clock to restore service with hospitals, medical facilities as a priority and then residential outages prioritized by the highest number of customers. The system has reported it could take multiple days before full service is restored.
For updates on outages, check the Outages page at dicksonelectric.com, but high traffic volume could delay the map from loading. Customers call 615-446-9051 to report outages or customers registered with DES can text “out” to 877-443-2333 to report an outage or “status” for updates.
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