Delaware weather update: 10am – DART and SEPTA suspend operations

The worsening weather and road conditions have caused DART to suspend its bus operations across Delaware.

Service in New Castle County halted at 10am.  Service in Kent County will follow at 10:30am and Sussex County service will be suspended starting at 11am.

In addition, SEPTA has announced it is suspending partial service on its R2 Wilmington/Newark train. The train will travel only as far as Marcus Hook.

The entire First State is under a blizzard warning. That means severe winter weather conditions such as falling and blowing snow are expected, along with strong winds that can create white-out conditions. The heaviest snow is expected between 11am and 3 pm.

Another day of being cooped up comes as many Delawareans, especially in Sussex County, were just able to leave their homes in the last day or two.

DelDOT crews were still trying to get to secondary roads in Sussex County on Monday to clear the snow from Saturday’s storm so people could leave their homes and get ready for this one.

Delmarva Power is bracing for more round the clock work with the combination of high winds, snow and ice potentially pulling down power lines.

Delaware Governor Jack Markell has put in a state of emergency once again for the entire state.  The notice went into effect at midnight.  That’s when the emergency management team made up of a combination of state agencies, went back into action.  The declaration says that only emergency vehicles and essential personnel should be the only ones to use the roads.  This will allow DelDot crews to go back into action.  The declaration also says that any cars abandoned during the snow storm will be towed at the owner’s expense.

Emergency shelters have also been set up in Lewes and Milford.  Officials are on standby to set up shelters in the Dover area and in New Castle County.  Some residents used shelters over the weekend when the last storm caused massive power outages in New Castle County.

The state has also set up a phone number for non-emergency situations:  1-800-464-4357.

Residents can call that number if they have questions:

1. Where to report power outages

2.  How to get emergency transportation to shelters

3.   Report road conditions in the area

4.  Tips on how to report damaged roofs

5.  Status of closings and the state of emergency.

The city of Wilmington has open its emergency operations center.  Residents can call 302-576-2489 with any questions.

Schools around the state are closed.  The University of Delaware’s Newark campus is closed for the day.  All classes and public events have been called off.  The official start of the semester was Tuesday.  It had been postponed a day because of the aftermath of Saturday’s storm.  The Christiana Mall has also said it is closed for the day.

Correction: A previous version stated that SEPTA’s R2 train service is suspended. As of 10:30 AM 2/10 SEPTA says the R2 line is continuing a shortened service to Marcus Hook.