Officials say city must deal with aftermath of storm for weeks to come.

With phone lines especially busy at City Hall and the police and fire departments following last week's ice storm, a hastily organized emergency operations center helped officials keep residents informed.

Communications Director Keith Sterling said the amount of inbound calls to all city departments greatly increased throughout the week because of the storm, with a majority of callers inquiring about clean-up.

The emergency operations center included members of the police, fire, streets, utilities, parks, legal, finance and city manager's office. The center allowed better communication between the departments, Sterling said.

The city also added a directory menu to its phone system to aid callers, he said.

Calls for the streets department were the most frequent, Sterling said.

The police and fire departments handled calls as they came in.

At the police department, Capt. Carole Newell said while the officers were busy because of the storm, it was business as usual for the department.

Newell said officers maintained their patrols, kept a close eye on all affected areas, and checked on the sick and elderly.

She said that the residents did a good job of keeping tabs on their neighbors and themselves to ensure that no one took advantage of those without power.

"Everybody seems to realize that this is a state of emergency and they're doing what good citizens do," Newell

She said the storm created an opportunity for citizens to get to know their neighbors again. She wants the neighbors to continue to check on each other.

"If you know you have a neighbor who may have some health issues...check on them," she said.

She said the police department is always a call away if anyone notices any suspicious behavior.

"If you want to really help, then be our eyes and ears in the neighborhood," Newell said.

With many roads still impassible throughout last week, both police and city officials said the city would be dealing with the aftermath of the disaster for some time.

"It's fair to say that this is something that will continue for weeks, if not months, the entire clean-up process," Sterling said.