LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A fresh blanket of snow once again covered Kentucky and southern Indiana overnight, causing dangerous road conditions.
Road crews have already been treating Louisville roads for 12 days straight, and say they are mostly clear as of Thursday morning. Now, Louisville officials say the focus is moving toward the problems cold temperatures could bring.
Representatives of the Louisville Water Company and other city officials joined Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer Thursday morning to talk about those issues.
The water company says freezing pipes are causing dozens of water main breaks across the city. Its crews have repaired at least 45 broken pipes since Sunday with five more working as of Thursday morning.
The water company says it had 18 breaks on Wednesday alone -- the most they've seen in a single day in two years.
Officials say its infrastructure has been improved, which is helping to keep the water breaks down, but says it wouldn't be surprising to see more come next week as snow melts.
"Right now the snow's a nice insulator on the ground," said Kelley Dearing Smith, a spokeswoman for the Louisville Water Company. "Even though we've had a lot of breaks, it's a good insulation. But as the snow starts to melt what can happen, there could be pipes that have broken that we don't know about, and when you see the snow melt, you see water running and you're wondering, 'Is that water melting from the snow, or is it a water main break?'"
Kelley Dearing Smith, a spokeswoman for the Louisville Water Company
Another issue the city is addressing is how to get Louisville's homeless population out of the freezing cold and into warm shelters. The city says it had over 200 available beds last night.
The Office of Resilience and Community Services is asking residents to check on the homeless and try to get them to move into a shelter.
The city is also still asking for people to clear sidewalks to avoid falling or walking in the street.
Those are the responsibility of the business or home nearest to it.
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