A spokeswoman for Gov. Jack Markell has said rumors of the governor having declared a state of emergency in Delaware are unfounded... until around 5:30 p.m., when Markell's office declared a state of emergency as of 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5. Vehicles have been ordered off the roads as of 10 p.m.
Snow began falling in central Sussex just after 2:30 p.m., and if the forecasts are to be believed, it will be stopping sometime around 7 p.m. on Saturday.
As of 2:30 p.m. on Friday, however, “there has not been a state of emergency declared,” Kempista said. A national news outlet, in reporting on a valid state of emergency in the Commonwealth of Virginia, erroneously extended that report to Delaware, she said.
Any such emergency declarations would come in official releases from the office of the governor, Kempista said.
However, Kempista did confirm state non-essential state employees working the Feb. 5 second shift, as well as those non-essential employees working all other shifts Saturday, Feb. 6, are not to report for work.
This is in anticipation of the projected heavy snowfall over those two days, said spokeswoman Catherine Kempista.
All essential state employees are to report for duty as scheduled, Kempista said.
