Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 16, 1993 TAG: 9303160205
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAROLYN CLICK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
FEDERAL AID SOUGHT FOR BLIZZARD COSTS
Two days after the most powerful snowstorm of the century slammed into Virginia, Gov. Douglas Wilder asked Washington for federal emergency assistance to help pay the mounting costs of the blizzard.As National Guard helicopters flew over isolated, snow-packed roads Monday in search of any remaining stranded travelers, the governor boarded a C-12 King airplane to see for himself just how much havoc Mother Nature had wrought.
Randolph Rollins, the state's secretary of public safety, said preliminary estimates place the storm's cost at about $12 million.
"That takes us through operations Wednesday assuming that the weather does not create any more problems for us," he said.
But Rollins said the governor was worried that costs could rise if flooding occurs in the Southwest Virginia region hardest hit by the wintry blast.
The $12 million figure "does not anticipate cost if floods should occur, and there is some risk that flooding will occur if the snow melts fast or if we get rain," Rollins said.
Rollins said the Clinton administration talked to the governor Sunday night and offered any assistance possible. A Federal Emergency Management Agency official was dispatched to Richmond to assist in the emergency.
"This is so different from the way FEMA operated in the past," said Rollins. "They are being very responsive."
Rollins could not provide a breakdown of how much of the cost the federal government might be willing to shoulder.
As the governor cut a wide swath from Wythe and Carroll counties north to the West Virginia line and then up the backbone of the Blue Ridge and into Northern Virginia, highway workers continued the job of clearing ice-clogged interstates and primary roads. But residents who lived on less-traveled arteries were forced to wait yet another day for overworked snowplows to clear paths to their doors.
Virginia Department of Transportation officials discouraged any unnecessary travel on reopened sections of Interstates 81 and 77, and continued to advise use of snow tires and chains. In some places, interstate travel was restricted to one lane in each direction.
In Shenandoah National Park, park rangers located a group of eight campers - six young teenagers and two adults from a school in Connecticut - in good condition on Big Run Trail.
"Early reports are they just got in their tents and into their sleeping bags. They had plenty of food to eat and stayed warm and had a great time," said park spokesman Sandy Rives.
Rives said park rangers decided to mount a search for the campers after officials from Rectory School in Pomfret, Conn., and worried parents telephoned the park with concerns about the group's safety.
After a futile helicopter search Sunday, rangers borrowed a Snowcat tracked vehicle from Massanutten ski resort to aid the effort. The campers finally were located shortly after midnight Sunday.
The group hiked six miles to a park entrance at Elkton on Monday afternoon where they were met by a phalanx of newspaper and television reporters intrigued by their weekend adventure.
But Rives said the story could have taken a tragic turn had the group not been prepared. Even so, he said, Monday's hike out of the park was extremely demanding, requiring the group to slog through drifted snow.
"I think it brings home a very important message," said Rives. "If you're going to do it [winter camping], be prepared as well as these people were."
Five National Guard helicopters remained in the air Monday, two flying over secondary roads looking for stranded travelers and three providing supply support out of Roanoke.
The three support choppers brought military Meals Ready to Eat, diapers and baby formula to hundreds still remaining in shelters. Over the two-day period, 34,577 meals were airlifted to the stranded travelers.
Fifteen shelters remained open for 1,307 people Monday, the majority in Bland and Wythe counties.
Bland, which hosted 1,871 people Sunday night at Bland County High School and shelters scattered through the border county, still had 356 in residence Monday.
Wythe County, which had 1,406 people in shelters during the weekend, had 795 remaining on Monday.
"This has demonstrated the capability and the willingness of volunteers and paid emergency responders," said Rollins. "They are so enthusiastic about it. You just have to be proud of them."