LEWISBURG (WVDN) – Late afternoon on Tuesday, July 12, a strong line of storms moved from the west across the eastern portions of Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties.
Emergency alerts threatened high winds and thunderstorms while suggesting damaging hail was also possible.
All this did come to pass, although to look at the damage the following day, it was really localized pockets that were affected and not the full-scale situation caused by the derecho of 2012. Still, there were many things that brought the derecho of the recent past to mind.
The winds were what is called a straight wind which toppled trees and downed branches.
Trees as old as 200 years were mowed down along Rt. 60 between Alta and Lewisburg, right along Swift Level Farm on Bungers Mill Road. Also, the winds seemed to target the broad outline of I-64 causing damage that affected vehicular traffic from Sam Black Church through White Sulphur Springs.
Storm-related events dotted the community. Hail pellets the size of a dimes and nickels collected on the ground, with locals describing places along the roads that looked like they were covered in piles of snow.
In Clintonville, the volunteer fire department, located near Alta, responded to a two-vehicle accident on I-64. Heading west into the winds a box truck had rear-ended a tractor trailer rig and both vehicles has pulled off the road. Lack of visibility driving into the storm was the reason stated for the accident.
While responding to the call for aid, the Clintonville rescuers found a dozen trees down across Rt. 60 between their station and the Alta interchange. Neighbor Sam Johnson brought out a backhoe to help pull the larger tree sections off the road, and Tri-County emergency service was called for a back-up while Clintonville continued to deal with the blockages on Rt. 60 between Clintonville and Sam Black and later the backroads in their service area.
Cell phone alerts the National Weather Service had warned citizens that high winds and flooding were potential weather hazards. These alerts came a good 30-45 minutes before the storm hit. For this reason, a contingent of volunteer responders were at their Clintonville station prepared for the pending weather.
Greenbrier County Homeland Security and Emergency Management spokesperson Paula Brown said that by 12 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13, the closure of Rt. 60 was still in effect.
“Some vehicles have tried to drive around the closure using backroads and Hern’s Mill Road has not been a good route for this much traffic. The closure signs were not placed perhaps far enough into Lewisburg to detour traffic coming west on Rt.60,” she said.
She also said that I-64 was closed from Lewisburg through the White Sulphur Springs exits on Tuesday night because a major transmission line for electricity was laying down across the highway.
“Crews have managed to repair it temporarily. But there will have to be a planned closure in the near future to make the full and permanent repairs,” Brown said.
I-64 was reopened to traffic by 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, and Rt. 60 east of Lewisburg opened just after 6 p.m.
Many residents still were without power as the 24th hour passed, facing another night of candles and generators.
By Thursday morning the power was restored to Henson Road between Alta and Sam Black Church.
Brown said she has received an increase in signups for the county Wireless Alert System.
“Residents can sign up for wireless alerts by texting with their cell phones to 888777 and giving their zip code in that text,” she said.
The system will then record the number the text was received from along with that zip code given and future alerts will be sent concerning that location. If you are not home, then the alert will probably be for the zip code you gave, so at least you will know what’s going on at your house while you are at work.
You also can go online to www.nixle.com and register for mobile alerts there.
Misty Hitchcock of the 911 Call Center in Maxwelton said that the call volume during the storm was higher than normal and the dispatchers on duty rose to the task.
Increased calls coming in during an event of this type are expected to request aid from fire department and ambulance services, she said.
“Also, we contact the department of highways, law enforcement and utilities, all the different kinds of utilities,” said Hitchcock, emphasizing the 911 center acts as a clearing house for all storm related emergencies.
Clean up continued on Thursday, Harts Run pool at Greenbrier State Forest had repair and cleanup to do in the kiddie pool were a tree fell across the chain link fence and landed in the shallow pool.
The staff at Harts Run reported that the large pool was not affected and would be open to the public, hoping that the repairs would be done by Saturday.
