Guard well prepared for season's first winter storm

December 10, 2009: When all is said and done, the first major snow storm of the season left a lot of snow but very little in the way of emergencies. "I think we were prepared for this storm," said Larry Reed, deputy administrator for Wisconsin Emergency Management. The Emergency Operations Center was activated at 8 a.m. Tuesday, and remained open until 8 p.m. Wednesday, a few hours after the National Weather Service cancelled a blizzard warning - in essence, acknowledging that the winter storm was over.

The Wisconsin National Guard, however, maintained its alert until 6 a.m. Thursday. At a Joint Operations Center meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Brig. Gen. Don Dunbar, the adjutant general of Wisconsin, agreed with Brig. Gen. Scott Legwold's assessment that keeping Guard members through the entire second stand-by shift across the state accomplished two objectives - it alleviated nighttime driving with the potential risks of drifting snow and ice from falling temperatures, and it still allowed for a timely response in the event of power outages requiring emergency warming shelters.

Reed said that Gov. Jim Doyle's early declaration of a state of emergency underscored to state government and the public how serious a threat the storm was considered. He also said coordination between agencies in the EOC - the state Department of Transportation highways division, State Patrol, Department of Natural Resources, the National Weather Service, the National Guard and various other state agency officials - was strong. In addition, a software program called "E-Sponder" allowed state agencies as well as counties to share information.

As the storm came and went, Reed said that county authorities did not request state assistance. The weather-related incidents that did occur - traffic accidents, some power outages - were handled at the local level. Emergency shelters that had opened for citizens displaced because of the storm saw few people, Reed said.

The EOC was at an elevated level of staffing until 8 p.m. Wednesday. A duty officer remains on call should assistance be needed, Reed said.

According to the National Weather Service, snowfall from the storm as of 5 p.m. Wednesday ranged from just under 3 inches at Milwaukee's Mitchell Field International Airport to 18.5 inches in Madison. A wind chill advisory went into effect for most of the state through late morning.