Anticipated rain and black ice on the road is causing a delay in opening hours for Rockdale County Public Schools central offices and enrichment camps for students during this week of winter break.
RCPS central office will open at 10 a.m., according to spokesperson Cindy Ball.
Rockdale County Public Schools students are on their week-long winter break but enrichment camps being held at Rockdale Career Academy any tutorings and activities during this winter break will be delayed until 10 a.m.
School systems in surrounding counties, including Newton, Gwinnett, DeKalb and metro area systems like Clayton and Cobb counties are closed Tuesday due to ice. Newton County school offices are also delaying their opening hours until 10 a.m.
State agencies will have a delayed start time of 11 a.m.
Georgia Power is reporting outages for more than 50,000 in north Georgia.
Like most of metro-Atlanta, Rockdale County will experience a lot of rainfall, some sleet and maybe a little bit of snow flurries. But that rain tonight could turn lead to patches of black ice on the roadways Tuesday morning and again on Wednesday morning, says Emergency Management Agency Executive Director Dan Morgan, who is also the Rockdale Fire-and-Rescue fire chief.
"It'll probably just be on elevated surfaces, like bridges," said Morgan. "Just be aware, and if you see anything that looks wet on the road, slow and be cautious. You need to treat it like it could be black ice."
The likelihood of snow falling is very low, but Morgan says some flurries could drop without any accumulation on the ground.
The big storm system that was supposed to bring major winter weather to the area was pushed north by warm air from the south, says Morgan.
"So we won't be impacted nearly like how we thought," he said.
Rockdale residents can receive alerts on their phone for natural disasters and emergency condions from the Conyers-Rockdale Emergency Management Agency with a free app called CodeRED. Residents can also register for alerts from a separate system from the Conyers Police Department called Nixle.
The CodeRED app, which is a free download for iPhone and Android subscribers, will allow Rockdale County residents, as well as those traveling through the area, to receive community and emergency alerts via notifications to their smartphones.
Residents who have enrolled for the CodeRED System will continue to receive voice calls, text messages and emails. However, the app is designed to keep users safe and informed while on the go.
Residents with iPhones and Android smartphones are encouraged to download the app to begin receiving notifications from Conyers-Rockdale EMA. The app is available for a free download on the iTunes store and Google Play. For more information or to download the CodeRED Mobile Alert app, visit http://ecnetwork.com/mobile/getitnow.html.
Conyers Police Department's message system, called Nixle, allows the CPD to create and deliver messages to subscribed residents instantly via cell phone text message and email. Notifications can also be accessed online at Nixle's website, www.nixle.com. There are no spam messages associated with the service but standard text messaging rates do apply. Residents can immediately begin receiving information via text message or email by registering at www.nixle.com
