Richmond City Council on Jan. 7, 2025, unanimously adopted a resolution consenting to the Director of Emergency Management’s declaration that a local emergency existed in the city beginning Jan. 5, 2025, because of a winter storm that produced freezing rain, sustained subfreezing temperatures and related outages.

The adoption followed a presentation by Stephen Willoughby, the city’s director of emergency communications, preparedness and response and coordinator of emergency management, who said the National Weather Service had issued a winter weather warning and that the storm “could have caused… transportation difficulties, power outages, life safety concerns, and therefore, taxing the city's resources.” Willoughby said he recommended the mayor declare a local state of emergency to allow the city to marshal resources.

Council members moved to expedite consideration of the resolution and then held a public hearing. No members of the public signed up to speak for or against the resolution. In council discussion, Council Member Gibson said she was seeing reports that water pressure had returned and thanked crews for around‑the‑clock work, then called for follow‑up actions including prioritizing infrastructure in the next budget and directing a third‑party investigation into what happened.

The council voted by roll call; each member recorded an affirmative vote. The resolution formalizes the council’s consent to the mayor’s declaration so that city emergency actions taken under that declaration are authorized by the governing body.

Council members framed the vote as an immediate, short‑term authorization tied to the storm response; several members said longer‑term steps — budgeting, system testing and transparency measures — should follow to reduce the risk of a recurrence.

The resolution does not itself set specific new expenditures or create a named oversight body; council members discussed next steps for review and potential budget priorities. The administration indicated it supports a collaborative review of system upgrades and ongoing checks to reduce future failures.