Winter Storm Slams County, Region
From staff reports
Power restoration is under way for 112,000 Appalachian Power customers who remain without power in parts of the company's Virginia, Tennessee and West Virginia service area as a result of a massive winter storm that dumped more than 30 inches in some parts of the county.
The National Weather Service estimated that snow in most areas of Scott County ranged between 7 and 13 inches with a report of 16 inches in the Dungannon community and 30 inches in the High Knob area of the Jefferson National Forest. The High Knob snow estimate was verified by county officials.
Kathie Noe, Assistant Administrator for Scott County, reported that the Scott County Department of Emergency Services declared a state of emergency at 4 p.m. on Dec. 19 and opened up seven shelters for residents without electricity or water.
Shelters were opened at Gate City Middle School, Hiltons Volunteer Fire Department, Nickelsville First Baptist Church, Dungannon United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, Three Bells United Methodist Church in Duffield and Maranatha Baptist Church in Yuma.
By Tuesday, only three shelters remained open in Duffield, Gate City and Yuma but they were expected to close by the end of the day. Noe said approximately 75 persons took advantage of the county's hospitality at the shelters.
The loss of power is also wrecking havoc on the public service authority's water system in the Duffield community. A representative from the Scott County PSA said approximately 600 customers in the Rye Cove, Mabe/Stanleytown, Cliff Mountain and Purchase Ridge communities were without water due to a power outage at the system's pump stations.
Noe explained the county was securing generators to provide back-up electricity at the stations in an effort to return water service to those residents without it. County officials said the generators were a temporary solution to the problem and would remain in place until electricity was restored - which might not happen until this weekend.
Noe said many residents had had to remove fallen trees in order to aid persons unable to get out of their homes. Some of these had to cut their way into homes to bring in food, kerosene or other supplies to their elderly friends and relatives, she added.
Industries located in the Duffield Regional Industrial Park were forced to close a couple of days, due to a lack of water even though power had been restored to the area on Monday.
At the present time, 46.5 percent of APCo's customers in Scott County, approximately 5,715, do not have any electricity. Lots of local residents have also lost their telephone service as a result of the storm.
Appalachian Power officials reported countywide damage of electrical lines. They anticipated that most residential customers will have their electricity restored by Christmas but some remote smaller outages will likely extend into weekend.
Other electrical providers, Powell Valley Electric Cooperative, Old Dominion Power Company and Bristol, Va. Utilities, are also reporting power outages for its Scott County customers.
Snow-packed and icy roads were hampering the crews' efforts to return service to customers.
According to Appalachian Power Company, crews are using every resource available, but blocked and snow covered roads and the large number of outages continue to make restoration efforts extremely challenging. Crews have reported finding hundreds of broken power poles and miles of downed power lines in areas that they have been able to access so far. They were able to restore power to about 40,000 customers on Sunday.
As of Tuesday, more than 3,200 people are working on the storm including 1,000 company employees, more than 800 forestry personnel and more than 1,500 contract line and support personnel. While many people will have power restored by Wednesday, some areas will not be restored until the end of the week.
Heavy snow continued to fall through the night Friday and into Saturday. By Saturday afternoon, Appalachian's outages peaked at 220,000 customers.
The storm also slowed traffic on county roads as Virginia Department of Transportation officials reported sections of Route 23 in the county were impassable on Friday evening between the Lee County line and Route 629, as well as Route 58 between Route 23 and the Washington County line. Michelle Earl, VDOT spokesperson, said the majority of routes in Scott County were snow-covered, extremely slick and hazardous at that time.
By Saturday morning, VDOT urged local residents to stay at home if possible and avoid the dangerous travel conditions.
VDOT emergency responders worked over night on Friday to treat and plow interstate and primary roads in all areas of the state. Snow removal efforts continued throughout the duration of the storm.
Conditions improved slightly on Saturday and by Sunday afternoon, sunny skies appeared across Virginia as transportation crews continued to work clearing roads after the commonwealth's biggest snow storm in nearly two decades.
VDOT worked closely with Virginia State Police, National Guard and local governments to get traffic moving and to assist motorists throughout the commonwealth including I-81 North in Rockbridge County and Route 29 in Charlottesville where disabled vehicles were blocking traffic.
VDOT crews continued to work through the night on Sunday to clear roads in Southwestern Virginia. Motorists should be alert to road crews and tree trimming crews on primary and secondary highways throughout the region. Early Monday morning, Route 65 in Scott County was temporarily blocked.
By Tuesday morning, the majority of the roadways were passable although some secondary roads remained snow covered.
Crews with VDOT prepared for full response to the predicted statewide weekend winter storm last week as they monitored weather reports and began preparations last Thursday.
The agency sprayed anti-icing chemicals on pavements and bridges, and prepare personnel, supplies and equipment to address this weekend's weather beginning Dec. 17.
"As an emergency response agency, Virginians can count on us to keep people, services and goods moving safely around the commonwealth," said David S. Ekern, VDOT commissioner. "Our crews are prepared to respond to the predicted major storm beginning Friday through Sunday in all areas of the state."
The agency reminds motorists to contact 511 or http://www.511virginia.org to get the latest in road closures and traveler information before heading on their next trip.