Iowa State and the city of Ames exercised a variety of preparations for severe weather Tuesday afternoon.

Associate Director of the Department of Public Safety Robert Bowers said the department was gearing up to stay in operation despite the weather.

Bowers said the department was securing four-wheel drive vehicles from the department of transportation so officers would be able to operate if conditions render their patrol vehicles inoperable. Bowers also said that the department was holding over reserve officers in order to ensure that they would have the staff to respond to emergencies.

Bowers encouraged students to prepare to safely going about their business during school days with extreme weather.

“Given that 9,000 people live on campus, it’s rare that classes are cancelled,” Bowers said.

Because of the increased risk of traffic accidents, Tracey Bramble, information specialist with the Iowa Department of Transportation, strongly urged citizens not to travel during severe weather conditions unless absolutely necessary. The strong winds predicted Wednesday are likely to cause decreased visibility making travel more difficult and dangerous. Bramble advised everyone to “examine the necessity” of their trip and stay off the road to reduce the potential of accidents.

She also said that the more vehicles on the road, the more difficult it becomes for plows to clear the streets.

Sheri Kyras, director of transit for CyRide, said there are no plans to cancel service during the storm.

Kyras said CyRide only cancels service if it is unsafe for passengers or crew for the buses to continue to run.

She mentioned that service may be behind schedule slightly, but is never cancelled unless necessary to avoid stranding residents dependent on bus transit.

CyRide halted service for a brief period last week due to a quick deterioration of conditions that made clearing roads difficult, Kyras said. She said the suspension of service is very rare, however.

“I don’t have a crystal ball,” Kyras said, but she said if service is going to be canceled there are a variety of ways for residents to find out.

The CyRide Web site has a ticker at the top of the page that gives the current status of bus service. CyRide’s Facebook and Twitter accounts also give status updates on bus service.

KASI and campus KURE radio stations also have status updates on CyRide service.

Mike Brennan, Ames Police commander, said that though the city will likely be experiencing a storm worse than usual, there are contingency plans for many types of emergencies.

“It’s a good time to exercise common sense,” Brennan said of staying safe in the weather.

Brennan said that the city maintains two crews of snow plows that run alternating 12-hour shifts. He said that apart from snow removal the police are keeping a couple of extra officers on hand and will have four-wheel drive vehicles in order to make it through rough road conditions.

“As always, emergency calls take precedent,” Brennan said.

Brennan said that there are likely to be a few calls the police may not be able to respond to due to the severe conditions and other calls like medical emergencies and car accidents that take precedent.

“This is pretty understandable when you consider how rare blizzards are,” Brennan said.

Brennan said that as severe as the weather is, the city has contingency plans in case of truly catastrophic issues like a loss of power. Storm shelters can be set up if travelers pulling off the road overwhelm local motels, for instance.

“The most important thing is to stay off the road,” Brennan said.