Danville prepares for remnants of Hurricane Ian

DANVILLE, Va. (WDBJ) -First responders in Danville are prepared for the remnants of Hurricane Ian this weekend.

The Danville Life Saving Crew has filled all of their boats and vehicles with fuel and made sure all equipment is working properly.

“We did about six hours worth of preparatory work yesterday to make sure all our gear is in order. We inventoried the gear and made sure everything was right to make sure at a moment’s notice, if we do get deployed locally or in conjunction with our partners in the county, we’re ready to be of assistance in any way needed,” said Bryan Fox, deputy chief of operations for the Danville Life Saving Crew.

Deputy Chief Fox says to try to stay off the roads but if you have to travel, avoid low lying areas that are prone to flooding.

“Flash Flooding can pop up at any minute,” added deputy chief Fox. “It’s very cliché, but everybody says, ‘turn around, don’t drown.’ Don’t try to navigate any water that’s covering the roadway. Turn around and go back and look around. If you can’t find a way out call 911.”

Danville Utilities filled up all of their vehicles with fuel and has extra personnel coming from Ohio Friday to help assist in any power outages.

“It just helps restore service quicker. It’s always good to have crews stationed in different areas of our system. They’re working safely, but the more crews that we have working helps restore power very, very quickly when we have a mass event. That’s typically what we see with with a hurricane like Ian,” explained Jason Grey, director of utilities.

Danville Utilities also said they will work on the biggest outage areas first, then work their way to the smaller ones. Updates on their work can be found on the Danville Utilities Facebook Page.