Huntsville Utilities offers precautions ahead of cold snap

Pipe burst (Contributed)

By Nick Sellers

Temperatures are expected to drop to the single digits by Thursday morning in the Madison area, with wind chills below 0 degrees.

In advance of the arctic blast, which is expected to plunge much of the Tennessee Valley into below-freezing temperatures from Tuesday night through Friday afternoon according to a bulletin from the National Weather Service in Huntsville, Huntsville Utilities has issued a to-do list for consumers to protect against the bitter cold.

“We recommend customers leave the faucet closest to where their water service enters their residence on slightly with a pencil-point thin stream of water and disconnect all hoses from any outside spigots,” said Joe Gehrdes of Huntsville Utilities.

Draining water from and applying insluation, such as a shirt or other fabric, to outside spigots helps protect against possible pipe bursts, which can be expensive fixes.

The NWS also implores residents to ensure all outside pets are in adequate conditions and for humans to wear layers of clothing through the cold snap on Friday.