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| APCo reported 1,899 customers without electricity Friday morning |
Staff Photo by Charles Boothe:
Thursday’s heavy, wet snow froze overnight, leaving a layer of ice on almost every surface Friday morning. Above, Sammy Brooks is on his tractor scraping the snow and ice off the parking lot at Eagle Plaza in Rocky Mount. |
Monday, January 21, 2013
By KEN BRADLEY - Staff Writer
Franklin County residents began digging out Friday after a fast moving snow storm dumped anywhere from one to four inches throughout the area, causing power outages and hazardous driving conditions.
The storm caused numerous power outages Thursday night in Franklin County as the heavy wet snow caused trees and tree limbs to fall on power lines.
Other surrounding counties also sustained power outages, according to Todd Burns, Appalachian Power Co. (APCo) communications manager.
Crews were out assessing the damage and working on the outages Thursday night, Burns said, but he had no estimates as to when power would be restored to those in the dark.
As of Friday morning, APCo reported that 1,899 of its customers in Franklin County were without electricity. That's six percent of the 31,495 customers APCo has in the county.
The snow fell on saturated ground caused by heavy rains throughout Tuesday and Wednesday and again Thursday that eventually turned into snow as it began fall around 5 p.m. Thursday.
Authorities reported a number of traffic accidents early Thursday night, but none that resulted in serious injuries to motorists, according to a spokesperson with the Franklin County Public Safety Department.
Most of the main roads by mid morning Friday were in good shape as VDOT workers kept them scraped and treated with chemicals to keep the snow and ice at bay.
Secondary roads throughout the county continued to be in poor condition Friday morning with scattered icy patches even though some had been scraped with VDOT snow plows. |
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