
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 23, 1990                   TAG: 9006230313
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

STORM KNOCKS OUT POWER TO 7,500

About 7,500 Appalachian Power Co. customers were left without electricity Friday afternoon when rains and 55-mph winds swept across the Roanoke Valley.

As of 10:30 p.m., 2,500 customers were still in the dark. Thirty Apco crews worked to restore power. Apco administrative assistant Charles Echols said the storm spared few areas in the Roanoke Valley.

Police dispatchers reported no flooding, but trees falling onto power lines caused the outages.

The storm was triggered when a cold front west of the Appalachians hit the warm air in the valley. It hit downtown Roanoke just before 3.

The rain lasted about 15 minutes in most areas, according to a spokesman for the National Weather Service. Some areas accumulated up to 1.7 inches, while others were hit with hail the size of golf balls.

by CNB