Trees topple; power goes out

By DAN KEGLEY/Staff

High and gusty wind rocked Smyth County Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning, a far-reaching effect of the strong storm system that the Upper Midwest experienced as a blizzard, according to national weather reports.
Rain was the other weather word locally as about two inches fell across the region Tuesday afternoon and overnight. An emergency official in Chilhowie said snow melting in higher elevations contributed to the rainfall to produce scattered flooding.
The National Weather Service in Blacksburg reported Highway 11 in Chilhowie closed by high water at 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Pools of water remained Thursday in low-lying fields near Smyth County rivers and streams while limbs and entire trees downed in yards by high winds over parts of two days awaited chainsaws.
On Thursday afternoon, the NWS posted a continued warning for winds gusting to between 40 and 55 miles an hour at elevations above 2,500 feet.
Emergency officials reported Thursday that trees and power lines came down across the county, and Appalachian Power Co. reported the worst outage in the region was in Smyth County, where the peak number of customers without power was 5,200 Wednesday night. By Thursday afternoon, the number had dropped to 3,300.
Wythe’s peak outage came Wednesday evening and affected 2,700 customers. Washington County lost more customers Wednesday night, peaking at 5,000 after only 100 customers were without power during the day and evening. In Bland, 2,800 customers had lost power Wednesday afternoon.
By noon Friday, APCo reported 2,000 Smyth customers remained without power, 3,200 in Washington County and 100 in Wythe. Data for Bland County was not available.
Later Friday afternoon, the continued power outages forced the town of Marion to send out a community alert asking residents of the River View subdivision to conserve water. The outages were limiting water service capabilities.
In Smyth County, American Red Cross’ Mountain Empire Chapter opened shelters Wednesday at the W.W. Scott Senior Citizens’ Center in Marion and at Riverview Presbyterian Church.
“No one took advantage of those,” said county emergency services coordinator Charles Harrington. The shelters closed at noon Thursday but as a result of calls coming in from people concerned about the cold weather, the Marion shelter re-opened later Thursday.
The shelters were operated by Red Cross and the county’s social services department. “If no one needs them, we’ll go on standby status,” Harrington said. “We will shelter as long as there is need.”
Harrington said he was more concerned about residents’ water pipes freezing and bursting as temperatures fell Thursday night.
As winds grew Wednesday, so did kerosene heater sales. Marion Walmart Store Manager Jeff Austin said Thursday, “We have none on hand,” and that the shelves hold “100 plus.” While the retailer sells the heaters regularly, the pace quickened “as soon as the wind picked up.”
Downtown, Francis Brothers sold all six of the heaters on hand, but the store’s demand was for generators. “If we had 100 generators, we could have sold them all,” Jerry Owens said.
On Thursday, Chilhowie Fire Department Deputy Chief Robert Taylor said utility and power lines arcing near the Exxon on Whitetop Road shut off electricity “between the railroad and the Interstate.” On Orchard Avenue, trees fell, a utility pole broke and a transformer ruptured, Taylor said. A Pine Tree fell through an outbuilding in the 600 block of West Lee Highway, and lines came down on Meadowbrook Lane.
“And there were two EMS calls in the middle of it all,” Taylor said.
In Saltville, Town Clerk/Treasurer Steve Johnson said much of the town, including town hall, lost power at noon Wednesday and telephone service at 2:30 p.m. Police Chief Steve Surber said his department set up a field office at the town shop where the power remained on.
“It was pretty well blacked out after dark,” Surber said. “We put on extra patrols. That’s when I worry about burglaries, when the power is off.”
A storm drain on Route 91 became blocked and the water froze, causing a “four-car pile-up this morning,” Surber said Thursday.
Electricity was restored downtown at 9 p.m. Wednesday, Surber said.
Downtown Marion had electricity by noon Thursday. Court cases for the day were postponed and await rescheduling. Wednesday’s cases had concluded before power was lost, a deputy clerk said.
Harrington said a county-wide damage assessment Thursday showed the storm was one mainly of inconvenience and did only minimal financial damage.

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