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Topic: Winter Storm Leaves At Least 17 Dead in USA
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Kindgo
Advanced Member
Member # 2
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posted
CONCORD, N.C. — The governors of North and South Carolina declared states of emergency Friday afternoon due to increasing power outages and severe icing conditions in their states, which took the brunt of the storm that swept across the East Coast earlier this week.
Ten thousand utility workers were racing to restore power Friday to nearly 1.5 million people across the Carolinas. Workers have poured in from across the South to help battle the ice, which continued to send tree limbs crashing onto power lines, some of which had already been repaired once.
"We come up here, work a little overtime, help the folks get the lights back on before Christmas," said Bobby Brinkman of Sarasota, Fla.-based Pike Electric.
North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley, explaining the post-storm emergency declaration, said he was worried too many people were choosing to ride out the cold. Only 1,600 people stayed in 56 of the state's shelters Thursday night, and forecasters predicted a low of 17 on Friday night.
Friday's temperatures temporarily climbed into the 40s, melting some of the ice. Guard members will go door-to-door to make sure people are safe and have information about local emergency shelters, Easley said.
Easley activated the National Guard to help residents in areas where electricity wasn't expected to be restored for several days or more.
Frustrated utilities pushed back earlier promises and acknowledged most customers won't have power back until next Wednesday night, exactly one week after the ice storm began blowing through.
"The tree limbs are still falling and getting tangled up in our power lines," said Mike McCracken, a spokesman for Carolina Power & Light. "We've made ground in some areas, but in other locations, we've lost ground."
Forests and yards popped with the sound of crashing branches, roofs and cars were crushed and streets were littered with debris and downed lines.
Outages increased Friday morning as ice-weakened trees continued to fall on power lines. But, by afternoon, Raleigh-area CP&L's outages had dropped back to 352,333 and Duke Power, based in Charlotte, reported 844,000 customers without power in North Carolina and 215,000 in South Carolina.
Raleigh-area CP&L's outages increased to 411,000 from 350,000 a day earlier. Charlotte-based Duke Power also lost ground, as 993,000 North Carolina customers were without electricity Friday, compared to 930,000 earlier. Nearly 290,000 were powerless in South Carolina, up from 276,000.
The North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives reported 92,000 outages. Electricities, an organization of 98 power systems in the Carolinas and Virginia, reported 35,000 outages.
BellSouth spokesman Clifton Metcalf said about 24,000 telephone lines out of service early Friday. Areas without phone service probably were without commercial electricity too, he said.
Jean Voss hung yards of felt to isolate her living room in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, and spent Thursday night huddled with her elderly parents under a pile of blankets in front of a set of gas logs.
"My mother likes to defy God," Voss said when asked Friday morning why they hadn't gone somewhere else. "'If God's on my side, I'm going to be fine."'
At least 26 deaths have been blamed on the storm since it blew across the Southern Plains earlier in the week, sending snow and ice from New Mexico to New York. They include a Virginia woman who froze to death after her car slid off the road and a North Carolina man whose car was hit by a falling tree as he returned from delivering blood supplies.
In New York, noted jazz saxophonist Robert Berg, 51, was killed Thursday when a cement truck collided with his SUV on a snow-slickened Long Island road. Berg had toured with Miles Davis in the 1980s and recorded solo albums.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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Caretaker
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Member # 36
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posted
Our here in Kansas we go through the ice storms every so often. I keep sleeping bags, kerosene lanterns, camp stove, and a lidded 30 gal waste basket and a 10 gal drink container for potable water. It can be so miserable. In 1984 a storm came through in March. Some farmers in this area lost power for a week or more. The power poles were snapped-off like cord wood, for miles at a stretch.
Our hearts and prayers are with all of those going through this.
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A Servant of Christ,
Drew
1 Tim. 3:
16: And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh..
Posts: 3978 | From: Council Grove, KS USA | Registered: Jun 2002
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Bambi
Advanced Member
Member # 544
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posted
we lost our power wed night for about 2 hrs...but other's around my area still didn't have power last night...we only got 4" ![[tears]](graemlins/cry2.gif) I could handle more ![[spiny]](graemlins/spiny.gif)
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Monday Morning
Brother's Keeper
Posts: 298 | Registered: Oct 2002
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InnerChild
Advanced Member
Member # 676
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it's frikkin cold here!!! ![[Smile]](smile.gif) I'm one of the lucky few here in greensboro that didn't lose power. yay!
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Child
Semper Cognosco
Posts: 40 | From: Greensboro, NC USA | Registered: Nov 2002
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abidinginhim
Advanced Member
Member # 620
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posted
My kids live in Charlotte and one is still without power.
I'm in the mountains and we had lots of snow but the salt trucks and graders have been out and tomorrow I get to go back to work at the crisis pregnancy center! I love my job! Working for the Lord is wonderful.
Thanks for your response Kindgo! I'm reading up on some "stuff" also!
Blessings to you in Florida!
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It's All About Him!
Posts: 137 | From: The Mountains of NC | Registered: Nov 2002
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Kindgo
Advanced Member
Member # 2
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posted
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/wea...991/detail.html
sez:
Winter Storm Leaves At Least 17 Dead
More Than 1.6 Million Without Power
POSTED: 8:36 a.m. EST December 5, 2002
More deaths are being blamed on a winter storm that is dumping snow and ice along the East Coast after spreading sleet and snow from Texas to Virginia.
It's a mess on highways all over the eastern U.S., and 17 deaths are now being linked to a snow and ice storm.
Most of the fatalities were from traffic accidents.
More than 1.6 million homes and businesses from Oklahoma to the Carolinas are without power, with more than 1 million without power in North Carolina alone.
It's the result of an ice and snowstorm that's snapped power lines, canceled flights and shut down hundreds of schools.
Duke Power officials say about 1.2 million customers are blacked out in North and South Carolina -- much more than the record number affected when Hurricane Hugo hit the region in 1989.
It could be several days before power is back on for everyone.
The utility company is calling it the worst ice storm in its history.
Some 3,000 stranded travelers had to spend the night at North Carolina's Charlotte-Douglas airport. The storm also disrupted air traffic in the Northeast.
A Virginia state police spokesman said, "We've got wrecks everywhere." Officials expect things to get worse before they get better.
Forecasters say up to 8 inches of snow could hit parts of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with snowfall also expected across Maryland.
To the north, the snow is falling at a rate of as much as an inch an hour in Connecticut.
A Baltimore-Washington International Airport spokeswoman says so many planes are on the ground at the facility that they cannot handle anymore.
Melanie Miller says BWI is now in "ground stop," which means no planes can land or take off at the airport.
In Philadelphia, all public and parochial schools were closed before the storm even arrived. District of Columbia public schools also were closed, as were almost all public schools in Maryland and schools in at least 125 districts in New Jersey.
The storm spread freezing rain and up to a foot of snow from the Texas Panhandle to Virginia on Wednesday. Slippery roads were blamed in at least six traffic deaths, including two each in Kentucky and Missouri and one each in Tennessee and North Carolina.
The blustery weather in the South was expected to taper off Thursday as temperatures warm, but officials warned residents to remain cautious.
Steady Snow Blankets Big Apple
For tourists, it's a dream.
But for commuters in New York City, today's snowstorm is a nightmare.
The steady snowfall that's blanketing the Big Apple could turn out to be the region's biggest winter storm in two years. Forecasters are expecting up to 8 inches, with up to 10 inches on eastern Long Island.
Tourists have spent the day snapping photos of the city's holiday decorations in snowy splendor. One woman from Detroit said it's how she's always envisioned the city.
But commuters spent the day skidding on slushy roads and waiting at airports. A motorist on Long Island said, "It isn't fun driving sideways."
Delays and cancellations are reported at all three of the region's airports. One flight to Washington had to turn around and come back to New York, only to find that LaGuardia was closed. It finally landed in Hartford, Conn.
Nation's Capital Slowed By Snow
The federal government is open, but the streets of Washington are mostly empty during the city's first major snowfall of the year.
Virtually every school system in the area is closed, prompting a lot of parents to stay home with their kids, rather than venture out onto the icy streets.
That's leaving the major attractions wide open for tourists, who seem to outnumber staffers in most government buildings.
The lack of crowds downtown is also making it a great day to buy stamps and mail holiday packages at the post office.
One rare sign of life on Capitol Hill -- Sen. Strom Thurmond's staff says his 100th birthday party will go on as scheduled.
Raleigh Area Hard-Hit
Freezing rain continues to fall north and west of Raleigh and is expected to continue through midday with highs in the low to mid 30s. It is likely freezing rain will continue in this area through lunchtime with accumulations of ice up to another quarter-inch.
Up to an inch of ice had accumulated on trees and power lines in some places overnight, and the lines and limbs just snapped under the weight.
Utility crews were working round-the-clock to restore power across the state; however the number of people without power continues to increase through the morning.
At 7 a.m., Progress Energy reported 337,405 outages in its northern region, which includes Raleigh, Durham County, Pittsboro, Henderson, Roxboro and Dunn.
There are 48,000 outages reported in north Raleigh, 66,000 in Cary, 56,000 in Garner and 7,700 in Fayetteville. The company aims to have power restored by midnight.
People should always stay away from downed power lines. All downed power lines should be treated as if they were energized and potentially deadly. Anyone who sees a downed line should stay away from it and call their electric utility or 911.
Slick roads and downed trees and power lines could make morning travel hazardous.
The state Department of Transportation reported that it had about 5,500 workers clearing highways across the state, and was using 45,000 tons of salt and sand, 2,000 dump trucks, 550 graders and 200 front-end loaders.
City of Raleigh crews have been working throughout the night salting streets, bridges and overpasses.
Raleigh Police urge motorists to use caution if travel is necessary. Many stoplights are not operating due to power outages. Icy conditions exist on most streets throughout the city.
The state Highway Patrol responded to hundreds of accidents but reported no serious accidents.
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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