KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The city of Knoxville announced they spent over $1 million battling the mid-January snowstorm, most of which was budgeted.
But there were extra unbudgeted expenses, like refilling 3,000 tons of salt, which cost over $350,000. Those unbudgeted expenses came out of the city's general fund. According to the city, no other programs were affected by snowstorm response emergency spending.
Employees worked extra hours to address the safety needs of the public. Fleet Services technicians worked 12-hour shifts keeping the snow plow and salt trucks rolling. According to the city, public service crews worked around the clock for 10 days, first brining city streets, then salting and plowing them.
“Many Knoxville residents were endangered by the storm, and those are the people we prioritized,” Mayor Indya Kincannon said. “Our first responders innovated and collaborated to reach everyone needing emergency services.
During those two weeks, the volume of calls to the 311 Center for Service Innovation doubled to a daily average of 1,200 a day, the city said. The average wait time before a call was answered was 47 seconds.
“Dangerous road conditions caused many residents to miss work," Kincannon said. "At a minimum, all of us were at least inconvenienced. Storm recovery and making our streets passable was a responsibility that all city employees took seriously and personally. I’m proud of our employees’ hard work. They went the extra mile to serve others.”
On Jan. 15, roughly nine inches of snow fell, followed by an icy mix of precipitation four days later. Knoxville set a record for winter weather, according to the National Weather Service. The winter storm brought comparisons to around 30 years ago when the Blizzard of 1993 swept through East Tennessee. It brought the largest amount of snow the area has seen in decades. The storm also brought more snow to the valley than the mountains, unlike the Blizzard of 1993.
According to the city, the Knoxville Police Department responded to more than 3,300 calls for service during the snowstorm, including 296 welfare checks and more than 850 responses to wrecks and disabled vehicles.
KPD also made two arrests, both involving armed carjacking suspects.
Police officers also delivered Mobile Meals to shut-in elderly residents, checked campsites where people who experienced homelessness were staying and gave rides to emergency warming centers. Several officers also bought and delivered groceries to snowbound elderly residents.
The Knoxville Fire Department deployed 4-wheel-drive Quick Response Vehicles (QRVs) 462 times to reach hard-to-access emergency scenes and render life-saving assistance, the city said.
Overtime pay for KFD and KPD during the storm totaled about $64,000, according to the city.
“A number of routine services were rightly deferred,” Chief Operating Officer Grant Rosenberg said. “Public safety is always going to come first. The shifting of duties by several of our team members is just one of many hidden costs in responding to a historic storm.”
The Public Service Department spent more than $736,000 in labor, equipment and materials, according to a release. From that, around $81,500 was in overtime as employees worked 24/7 during the storm.
The city said Fleet Services spent about $266,000 related to storm-response work – $111,000 in regular salaries and overtime, $88,000 on parts and repairs and more than $66,000 for the 28,013 gallons of fuel dispensed throughout the storm.