AAA Gears Up For Potentially Hectic Week After Heavy Snowstorms

AAA said it has been responding to calls nonstop related to last week’s snowstorms. The organization said it doesn’t expect the high volume of calls to slow down anytime soon.

“The number of sequential days below freezing coupled with the major snow and ice really created havoc for them in responding,” AAA Oklahoma spokesperson Leslie Gamble said.

AAA said its service calls last week increased to approximately 1,500 each day.

“We had to make the call we rarely make,” Gamble said. “We had to prioritize the first responses to people who were stranded on a road without access to a heated structure other than their automobile.”

Temperatures warming up doesn’t necessarily mean AAA’s work will slow down.

“We've seen more battery calls this year than I’ve ever seen in thirty years of doing this,” AAA Car Care store manager Kevin Lynch said. “We've sold more batteries in this last week than we've sold all last month. Just in a week.”

Most of AAA’s calls have shifted from people’s cars being stuck in the snow to people not being able to start their car after leaving it parked during the winter weather.

“A lot of the delivery trucks couldn't get out because diesel fuel, when it gets so cold, it will actually start to gel,” Lynch said. “There's so many different delivery trucks that were going down -- there's a lot of places that haven't gotten any deliveries on anything. So the supply for things are getting very low. We didn't get a delivery last week, so we're praying for a delivery Monday.”

AAA suggests getting your car inspected before cold weather arrives, especially if you're battery is at least two years old.

Another thing AAA said drivers should pay attention to are potholes caused by the cold temperatures. Avoid driving over them as much as possible to prevent damage to your car.