SWVA snow storm aftermath: Power outages being fixed, roads improve

ROANOKE, VA --

3:57 p.m.

By WSLS News Staff

The pace at which Appalachian Power crews are being able to restore electricity across the area has improved rapidly from this morning.

VDOT says most roads across the WSLS viewing area are safe to drive on, but warn about the likelihood of refreezing tonight, from melted snow and ice.

We'll have team coverage on the snow aftermath and clean-up tonight on WSLS at 5, 5:30, and 6 p.m.

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2:30 p.m.

By WSLS News Staff

Power Outages

Outages in Carroll County, Franklin County fixed. We've seen a drop of nearly 3,000 outages in the past 45 minutes.

As of 2:30 p.m., Appalachian Power's website showed more than 14,300 customers without electricity in the WSLS viewing area.

Amherst Co. - 408
Bedford Co. - 1,409
Bland Co. - 1,255
Botetourt Co. - 459
Campbell Co. - 102
Giles Co. - 1,912 (about 19.4% of all APCo customers in the county)
Lynchburg - 550
Montgomery Co. - 875
Nelson Co. - 111
Pulaski Co. - 827
Roanoke City - 2,028
Roanoke Co. - 2,960
Wythe Co. - 1,436 (about 8.4% of all customers in the county)

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1:45 p.m.

By WSLS News Staff

Power Outages

Power outages in Roanoke County have dropped by more than 1,000 in the past hour.

As of 1:45 p.m., Appalachian Power's website showed more than 17,200 customers without electricity in the WSLS viewing area.

Amherst Co. - 465
Bedford Co. - 1,705
Bland Co. - 1,255
Botetourt Co. - 763
Campbell Co. - 101
Carroll Co. - 166
Franklin Co. - 753
Giles Co. - 2,140 (about 21.7% of all APCo customers in the county)
Lynchburg - 516
Montgomery Co. - 1,009
Nelson Co. - 111
Pulaski Co. - 832
Roanoke City - 2,300
Roanoke Co. - 3,670 (about 8.3% of all customers in the county)
Wythe Co. - 1,436 (about 8.4% of all customers in the county)

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12:45 p.m.

By WSLS News Staff

Power Outages

As of 12:45 p.m., Appalachian Power's website showed more than 19,200 customers without electricity in the WSLS viewing area.

Amherst Co. - 493
Bedford Co. - 1,640
Bland Co. - 1,255
Botetourt Co. - 608
Campbell Co. - 101
Carroll Co. - 166
Franklin Co. - 773
Giles Co. - 2,245 (about 22.8% of all APCo customers in the county)
Lynchburg - 664
Montgomery Co. - 1,026
Nelson Co. - 110
Pulaski Co. - 835
Roanoke City - 2,464
Roanoke Co. - 5,351 (about 12.1% of all customers in the county)
Wythe Co. - 1,529 (about 9% of all customers in the county)

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11:45 a.m.

By WSLS News Staff

Road Conditions

VDOT says road conditions are steadily improving across the entire area, as temperatures warm up.

However, VDOT and police are warning drivers to be cautious later tonight. Temperatures will drop, and there is the possibility of re-freezing.

VDOT Salem District

VDOT spokesman Jason bond says plow crews have made progress on both primary (roads numbered 1-599) and secondary roads (roads numbered 600 and higher). VDOT crews are also working on numerous downed trees.

Interstates 81 & 77 are clear, with most primary roads either clear or in "minor" condition (meaning there may be some slick spots).

VDOT Lynchburg District

VDOT spokeswoman Paula Jones says major roads are generally clear of snow.

Plow crews are focusing on clearing secondary roads.

Crashes

Virginia State Police say division IV, which goes from Radford west, dealt with 598 calls for help between 10:00 a.m. Sunday and midnight (Monday). Of those calls:

144 were for crashes
115 were for disabled or abandoned vehicles
294 were for "other service related issues" (Power outages, trees in the road, overdue motorist, road conditions, etc.)

Luckily, none of the crashes were deadly in the division IV area.

55 troopers and State Police supervisors worked in the division during the snow storm.

Power Outages

As of 11:45 a.m., Appalachian Power's website showed more than 20,700 customers without electricity in the WSLS viewing area.

Amherst Co. - 793
Bedford Co. - 1,921
Bland Co. - 1,255
Botetourt Co. - 593
Campbell Co. - 101
Carroll Co. - 167
Franklin Co. - 904
Giles Co. - 2,251 (about 22.8% of all APCo customers in the county)
Lynchburg - 599
Montgomery Co. - 1,098
Nelson Co. - 109
Pulaski Co. - 843
Roanoke City - 2,569
Roanoke Co. - 5,370 (about 12.2% of all customers in the county)
Wythe Co. - 2,131 (about 12.5% of all customers in the county)

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Winter's first major storm caused hundreds of accidents, left thousands without electricity, and dumped inches of snow across Southwest and Central Virginia on Sunday.

The National Weather Service left a Winter Storm Warning in effect until 6:00 a.m. Monday.

POWER OUTAGES

As of 8:00 a.m. Monday, Appalachian Power's website showed outages going up in several localities. The five hardest hits areas are:

Roanoke City - 5,013

Roanoke County - 4,457

Giles County - 2,122

Bedford County - 1,991

Wythe County - 1,789

APCo spokesman Todd Burns says the bulk of the power outages began after dark Sunday, making their crews' repair work that much more difficult. Some work has been done overnight, but more crews will be brought in once the sun rises on Monday.

APCo pre-staged more than 350 workers across its service area ahead of the storm. APCo has requested an additional 100 line workers for Monday. Burns added that until APCo assessment teams are able to accurately get an idea of how bad the damage is, the company cannot give a time frame for how long power restoration will take.

TRAFFIC CRASHES

Between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday,Virginia State Police had responded to 349 crashes. Most took place in the western and southwestern parts of the Commonwealth. Luckily, few of the crashes resulted in people getting hurt.

One of the more troublesome spots was the stretch of Interstate 81 between Wytheville and Rural Retreat. In that stretch alone, VDOT and State Police responded to multiple tractor trailer crashes. One of the crashes involved a tractor trailer jackknifing about a mile south of the Wytheville Route 11 exit (Exit 67), on I-81 northbound around 4:30 p.m.. The crash caused a 13 mile back-up, and closed I-81 northbound for more than five hours Sunday afternoon and evening.

As of midnight, VDOT's 511Virginia.org website showed most of the roads in the WSLS viewing area as being in "moderate" condition, meaning snow or ice is covering a major portion of the road, and it is driveable with caution.

By 7:30 p.m. Sunday evening, Wythe County's Emergency Services Department asked all drivers to stay off of the roads in the county, due to the high number of accidents that had taken place in the county.

VDOT and police agencies across the viewing area also asked drivers to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.

CHANGING ROAD CONDITIONS

Snow bursts began around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, and caused a massive change in the road conditions across the area. The number of accidents reported to 511Virginia.org surged between 4:30-6:00 p.m. Sunday, as the roads steadily grew more dangerous to drive on.

VDOT planned to have plow trucks push snow, and treat roads overnight. Primary roads (those with numbers 1-599) would be cleared first. Once the snow storm stops, and the primary roads are clear, VDOT would send crews to the secondary, neighborhood roads (those with numbers 600 and higher).

FIRE & RESCUE CALLS

Roanoke County Fire & Rescue spokeswoman Jennifer Sexton tells WSLS that county fire and rescue crews had responded to more than 100 calls on Sunday. Other local fire and rescue departments saw similar increases in calls for help.

SNOW TOTALS

Snow amounts ranged across the area, with the highest amounts generally along the western side of the viewing area.

By midnight, the National Weather Service's highest reported total was 9.5 inches in Covington.