CARBONDALE - Before the flakes started to fall Wednesday afternoon in Lackawanna County, some stores were selling out of shovels and salt.
Carbondale's Mayor Justin Taylor wears a lot of hats, and since City Hall was closed for Wednesday, he prepared for another one of his jobs. Plowing people's driveways throughout the city.
"We get plenty of calls. We try to mostly do residential, little old ladies who don't want to go out because it's too cold. We're expecting several inches of heavy wet snow so people should be cautious," Taylor said.
Taylor said, since the first weather reports came in, he's picked up a few more customers and re-connected with the old ones expected to need a plow come morning.
Those planning to dig out themselves made a run at Holt's Lumber in Carbondale. When Newswatch 16 showed up, the store was almost sold out of snow shovels. Employees said, since it's right after Christmas, they won't get a new shipment until next week. The same for the piles of rock salt at the store, which employees said was a big seller, too.
Another inconvenience of a holiday storm, Mayor Taylor says, he had to call in city DPW crews on their day off to get ready for the impending snow.