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<p>Winter Storm Stella dumped more than two feet of snow on the region and reinforced some valuable lessons to local municipal officials last week.</p><p>&#8220;Preparation is really crucial in dealing with a storm of this magnitude,&#8221; Hanover Township Manager Sam Guesto said.</p><p>Township officials had a preparation meeting the day before the record-breaking snowfall to go over plowing and priority lists, Guesto said.</p><p>The township, which has 43 miles of road excluding alleyways, had area contractors on stand-by. Guesto said the crews were &#8220;determined&#8221; to keep the township running &#8220;and it showed with passable main roads.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Believe me, we had a time when it felt like Stella got the best of us and needed a break,&#8221; Guesto said.</p><p>Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tony George and other city officials, including city Administrator Ted Wampole and the police and fire chiefs were &#8220;on constant vigil&#8221; from the on-set of Stella this past Tuesday through Sunday when the road conditions were back to &#8220;close to normal.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;All were in constant communications with each other &#8230; to inform &#8230; the public on status,&#8221; said Tyler Ryan, the mayor&#8217;s administrative assistant.</p><p>Forty Fort Mayor Andy Tuzinski said the road crews were &#8220;good&#8221; during the storm and the borough was prepared &#8220;before the first snowflake hit.&#8221; The 15 miles of roads the borough has were clear by Wednesday evening, Tuzinski boasted.</p><p>&#8220;By Thursday and Friday, they were concentrating on hauling snow out of the borough,&#8221; Tuzinski said.</p><p>The only difference from other major snowstorms, Tuzinski noted, was the use of social media. He said he used the borough&#8217;s Facebook pages &#8220;extensively&#8221; during the storm to keep residents informed.</p><p>Pittston Mayor Jason Klush was a high school student when the Blizzard of 1993 hit.</p><p>&#8220;We did better than that,&#8221; he said recalling that he had more than four days off of school in 1993. Klush, who has a background in construction, was out plowing roads when he was not at work.</p><p>The Pittston mayor said it&#8217;s &#8220;impossible&#8221; to prepare for a storm of the magnitude of Stella. But he was happy with how everything turned out, even it it took longer because the city has narrow roads.</p><p>In case it happens again, Klush said the city would &#8220;do what we did this time.&#8221;</p><p>His biggest challenge he said is balancing the funds with contractors and overtime.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">George </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_Tony-George-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>George </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Melanie Mizenko</p><p>mmizenko@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Melanie Mizenko at 570-991-6116 or on Twitter @TL_MMizenko</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Area municipalties use Winter Storm Stella as a learning tool