The Oneida County Emergency Services Department and Fire Station have announced that they will be offering free sandbags and sand, donated by Hess Pumice, for use by Oneida County residents interested in obtaining sandbags to mitigate flooding.  A large pile of perlite is available to any county resident at the area to the east of the Fire Station building.  Bring your own shovel and fill as many bags as you need.  

Burlap bags are available on site, though you can cheaply order your own bags to fill at any number of online sites.  

As a result of this year’s continued and above average snowfall, most experts predict that flooding will be higher than usual this year.  Sandbags can be used to prevent flooding into basement areas and other potentially sensitive areas.

The weather for this week is predicted to continue trends established over the last week, with freezing temperatures at night and day time highs in the 40s.  The high snow pack conditions are likely to create flooding conditions during the next several weeks.

At this week’s county commission meeting, Dan Williams of the Emergency Services Department was authorized to order more bags to accommodate what will likely be large community demand.  Extensive flooding was seen across the county last year during the spring thaw, which involved significantly smaller precipitation amounts.