Wind rips through central Va.

Power failures, downed trees and brush fires caused hazards and headaches across central Virginia after dry, gusty winds heralded the final day of 2008.

Lynchburg Public Works Director Dave Owen said his crews responded to about 15 different calls, usually along the lines of downed trees or electrical lines.

“We had different crews out cutting up the trees that blocked up the roads and sidewalks most of the day,” Owen said.

“We were just trying to make sure we got the streets reopened as quick as possible.”

Owen said the normal staff for the day was adequate, but several crews had to be pulled from their regular maintenance duties to help with downed trees or power lines.

Meteorologist Dave Wert, with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, said the wind started coming across the Blue Ridge Mountains at about 5 a.m. and hit Lynchburg at about 7, though the winds weakened as they traveled east.

Wert said the station at the Lynchburg Regional Airport reported gusts no higher than 39 mph, but that Amherst and Bedford County both likely received gusts more severe than that.

Fire crews also responded to a brush fire in the Montvale area of Bedford County.

AEP spokesman Todd Burns said at the wind’s worst, about 19,500 customers across the company’s coverage area were out of power.

That number, according to AEP’s Web site, stood at fewer than 2,200 at 10:30 p.m.

The site reported Bedford County suffering 248 outages, with Amherst County at 362.

The National Weather Service issued a red-flag warning blanketing Central Virginia Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s a warning that the conditions exist with low relative humidity and high winds that fires or wildfires would potentially spread very rapidly,” Lynchburg Fire Department Captain Robert Lipscomb said. “They actually call it ‘explosive fire growth.’”

Lipscomb said the warnings provide area fire departments information they can use to enact burn bans or warn residents.

Amherst County reported Virginia 130, or Elon Road, blocked because of a tree Wednesday, and Lynchburg Police reported trees down on both North Princeton Circle and Oak Lane.Burns said outages in Amherst and Bedford counties could last until 2 p.m. today, but that most of the power to other areas would be restored by early this morning.