hamilton county snow emergency

Plenty of salt to shake around
Most counties say they have enough salt on hand to weather the storm and can get access to more if needed.
Cincinnati has about 18,500 tons of salt, which should be more than enough to get through this storm, said Meg Olberding, a city spokeswoman.

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"When temperatures go below 20 degrees, with this kind of accumulation, salt isn't as effective, and we mainly just plow," she said. "And salt isn't the only thing in our tool kit."

The city will use a combination of salt brine with beet juice and calcium chloride to treat the streets, depending on temperature and road conditions.

Meanwhile, Olberding said, residents need to move their vehicles from emergency snow routes. The city started towing vehicles around noon Tuesday.

In Hamilton County, about 8,000 tons of salt remain and "should be enough to get us through the winter," said Steve Mary of the Hamilton County Engineer's Office.

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At this point, he doesn't expect crews to use that much salt since they want to leave a thin coat of snow on the ground. If freezing rain hits bare pavement, it will get slick and streets will be harder to treat, he said.

There is plenty of salt north and east of the city in Butler and Clermont counties.

While Butler County officials weren't sure of the exact figure, they say it's on track with what's normally used by this time in a typical winter.