Westchester, Rockland Counties Preparing For Major Winter Storm
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Officials and residents in Westchester and Rockland counties are gearing up for Tuesday's major winter storm that could bring more than a foot of snow in some areas.
The snow is expected to begin late Monday night with the heaviest snowfall set to start Tuesday morning.
"We're going to get the plows all ready by today, all the supplies we needed," Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said. "It hasn't been a brutal winter so we've been kind of lucky with that."
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New Rochelle resident Carlos Escalara has been unlucky. Home Depot has plenty of shovels, but no salt in sight.
"Gas stations usually have a couple left, hopefully I'll get lucky," he told CBS2's Magdalena Doris.
In hardware and grocery stores, both employees and students are hoping for the same thing.
"I'm hoping for a snow day even if I have to shovel," said a sixth grader named Molly.
"The smart thing would be to close school at least for two days," said Yonkers school district employee Darrel Bryant.
Depending on who you ask, storm essentials vary from salt, shovels to milk and bread. Denise Lerro from Yonkers is stocked on the Italian food.
"I'm going to buy the wine to go with it now," she said.
"I think it's important to have the proper mood when you enduring snow like tomorrow so I want to ensure that all bases are covered, including red wine," said Harlan Matusow of Bronxville. "Most especially, that's the centerpiece."
Meanwhile, Rockland County Executive Ed Day is pleading with people to use common sense, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported.
"Unless you have some significant reason to be out tomorrow, don't go out, just stay off the road if you can," he said. "We're looking at potentially a foot-plus of snow coming down at 1 to 3 inches an hour, the strong winds gusts of maybe 40 miles per hour. It is not a day for traveling in."
Day expects power lines could come down, so he says keep your power company's number handy, along with batteries and flashlights.
