Malloy Declares State of Emergency in Connecticut [Updated]

Update at 10:55 a.m. on Feb. 14:

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will hold a press conference at noon to announce plans to make the state's road salt available to municipalities. The conference will take place at the state's Emergency Operations in Hartford.

Our original report follows:

Connecticut is in a state of emergency.

The designation, declared Thursday night by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, sets the stage for the state to seek federal assistance as many towns face road salt shortages, given the number of winter weather events so far this season.

The snowstorm that is currently dumping upwards of a foot of heavy snow across the state is the 12 weather event of the winter, Malloy noted.

"I have asked our state emergency management personnel to reach out to our cities and towns tonight and get more information on what their salt supplies look like right now, indicating to us how much they currently have on hand and how much they use in a typical storm," Malloy said. "This will enable us to pursue a request to the federal government to assist these communities to increase their supplies as the winter season continues."

In a press release issued on the heels of the governor's second storm-related press conference of the day, Malloy added, "I want to stress that this request is to address the issue of salt supplies for the remainder of this winter season as there surely will be additional snow and ice events this year. With winter storms impacting many parts of the country, some of which don't typically see this type of weather, salt supplies are being stretched throughout the entire eastern portion of the U.S."

More information on a request to the federal government will be announced as soon as the plan is formalized, the governor said.

In addition, Malloy announced that all non-essential, first-shift state employees should report to work on Friday, Feb. 14, on a one-hour delay based on the time that each employee would normally report to work. This will help stagger the early morning rush hour commute, Malloy said.