Deep Freeze: Icy Conditions Leave Many in Ohio Valley in the Dark
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WHEELING -- Mother Nature froze the Ohio Valley in place with her latest winter storm Thursday and Friday when nearly a half-inch of ice was dumped across the region, causing thousands of power outages and treacherous driving conditions.
The storm, which included another 1 to 3 inches of snow on top of the ice, made roads throughout the region hazardous and downed trees that caused power outages for thousands of residents.
The downed trees also forced many roads to close as well, making work to clear roadways of all the frozen precipitation and restore power more difficult.
Joelle Moray, AEP-Appalachian Power spokeswoman, said restoration times in Ohio and Marshall counties could not be accurately determined until the damage was assessed.
"Around 40 workers arrived in Wheeling in advance of the storm and are assisting with restoration efforts," she said Friday. "More than 175 additional workers are traveling today to the Wheeling area to aid with service restoration.
"Around 17,000 customers in West Virginia are currently without electric service. The majority of outages are located in the Northern Panhandle. "
At one point, more than 13,000 customers in Ohio and Marshall counties were without power Friday. By Friday evening, that total had shrunk to 10,521.
In Ohio County, Lou Vargo, director of the Wheeling-Ohio County Emergency Management Agency, said his office was also dealing with calls regarding people on oxygen needing backup tanks refilled. He said those who use electric air concentrators often use backup tanks when the power goes out. The fire department, he said, can assist those people with refilling their backup tanks, if necessary.
Photo by Alan Olson – A truck flipped into the ravine between I-470 and its on-ramp near Bethlehem around 12:40 p.m., causing heavy police and fire presence along the highway as they extricated the driver. One person reported a minor arm injury and was taken to Wheeling Hospital after being removed from the overturned vehicle, according to Wheeling Fire Department Spokesman Philip Stahl.
Vargo said the falling trees downed power lines some of which caused minor fires on the ground, but no major structure fires occurred.
"The ice was thick and heavy. Entire trees were falling into power lines and causing transformer fires," he said. "Not only that but we had to triage 911 calls. We had to get trees off the roads to get fire trucks through."
Vargo said the EMA was ready to activate a warming shelter if needed at the Salvation Army Church building in South Wheeling, but he had not received many calls about it yet.
"We will possibly open that later tonight," he said Friday.
At one point Thursday, the Ohio County 911 system was down and people were asked to call the system's regular phone numbers - 304-234-3661 or 304-234-3711 - if they had an emergency.
Theresa Russell, director of Ohio County 911, said the lack of 911 service was due to a planned outage by Frontier Communications. Russell said she objected to Frontier's planned downtime of the 911 system when she learned about it Wednesday. She said the system was down for about 90 minutes while the company did some fiber repairs in the southern part of the state. Russell said she asked Frontier to delay their work until next week because of the impending storm, but they declined to do so.
"I'm going to file a formal complaint with the FCC and the Public Service Commission. We have to do what we have to. People pay for it and lives matter. They deserve the best we can give them," Russell said.
Russell said it is never good when a 911 system is down, but during a major storm is even worse.
"One minute can make a huge difference in someone's life," she said.
Russell said she tried to have Frontier transfer Ohio County's 911 calls to Marshall County, but the process takes awhile. The outage was over before that process could be completed, she noted.
Frontier could not be reached for comment Friday.
Marshall County Emergency Management Agency Director Tom Hart said Friday that multiple trees came down across his county due to the icy storm that began Thursday late afternoon and continued overnight. Many of those trees fell onto power lines, leaving thousands in the dark.
Hart said if people can continue to shelter in place that would be best, as the road conditions were still bad, though state highway crews are working to clear them. If someone has only a short drive, it might be OK to venture out to a warming station, he noted.
"We've got different areas across the county where trees are down, are still coming down and are blocking roadways. We get a roadway open and trees come down again," Hart said. "The DOH and the fire department are doing their best to keep the roadways open."
Hart said if someone is in need of a warming shelter due to loss of electricity, the county's five municipal buildings are on standby to do so. The Moundsville and Sherrard fire departments are also warming centers.
"A lot of businesses shut down for the day because the road conditions are so poor," he added.
Photo by Derek Redd – Terry Myles cleans off his car in front of his Springdale home Friday morning before heading to work. Storms dumped both ice and snow on the Ohio Valley between Thursday night and Friday, leaving thousands without power and making travel treacherous.
Philip Stahl, Wheeling Police Department spokesman, said Interstate 470 was forced to close about 11:30 p.m. Thursday after a tractor-trailer overturned in the westbound lanes near Exit 1.
"The driver was not injured, and it took towing crews hours to unload the trailer and clear the site. It reopened earlier this morning," Stahl said, noting he did not know what the vehicle was hauling.
"We had another single-vehicle crash just after midnight. A truck slid and went into the median on I-70 near the weigh station; they also were OK."
Stahl said the Wheeling Fire Department also responded to a handful of calls late Thursday into Friday.
"Two were regarding low hanging wires and others were because of the power flickering causing some issues," he said. "Conditions were icy for responders all night, but call volume was low."
Meanwhile, Ohio Valley residents took to social media showing pictures of large trees that had fallen in their neighborhoods, along with the icy and snowy conditions. Others took photos of their methods of staying warm while they waited for their power to be restored. Some said they had generators in use, while others posted photos of themselves bundled in layers of coats, blankets, gloves and hats.
"As heavy ice build-up on our facilities lingers due to freezing temperatures, additional damage may occur due to fallen trees and limbs," Moray said Friday. "Workers are currently assessing damage and clearing safety hazards. Workers are dealing with icy road conditions, which may slow restoration efforts.
"The Northern Panhandle is currently experiencing ice and snow accumulation. Freezing temperatures today and (Saturday) in this area will likely limit ice thaw."