Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 7, 1993 TAG: 9306070065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Another 1,200 homes in Rocky Mount, Fieldale-Martinsville and Stuart areas and 6,400 along the Interstate 81 corridor from Christiansburg to Wytheville also had no power.
Almost a third of the homes in Lynchburg, 20,000 residences, had no electricity and some probably won't have any before midweek, an Apco spokesman said. Crews from Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina were helping Apco in Lynchburg, which had four public schools without power.
A curfew was in effect in the city to deter looting.
The thunderstorms that rolled west to east Friday night had winds that gusted up to 80 miles per hour. The National Weather Service at Roanoke Regional Airport clocked the wind at 72 mph.
Two mobile campers were picked up and moved around at the Fort Chiswell RV Campground, said Manager Edna Fulton. Two people were inside of one of the campers but were unhurt, she said.
Apparently several mobile homes in a park near Fort Chiswell also were damaged.
Friday's experience evoked many comparisons to Hurricane Hugo, which came ashore in South Carolina in September 1989 but had lost some of its punch when it hit Central and Western Virginia.
Lynchburg officials said the thunderstorm caused more damage than the March blizzard and the remnants of hurricanes Hugo in 1989 and Camille in 1969.
"I was not here during Hurricane Hugo, but I'm told this one was on par with that period," said Tom Jobes, assistant Roanoke division manager for Apco.
At one point, power was out to about 45,000 of Apco's 160,000 Roanoke Valley customers.
The restoration was frustrated by a storm about 3 a.m. Saturday that knocked out power to some residences that had just gotten it back from the earlier storms.
Georgia Street in Northeast Roanoke was still closed Sunday night because live power lines were on the ground under trees.
Lawrence Trent said he had electricity at his house on Georgia but his son's house next door was powerless.
Trent said he was home when the wind came. "It was awful. It was the worst I ever seen and and I'm going on 84 years old."
A Blue Ridge Parkway ranger lost his vehicle to a falling tree. He was in the car when the tree hit it but was not hurt, said Hoyt Rath, assistant chief ranger.
Robert and Virginia Sherertz also were home when a poplar tree sent its limbs through their attic and tore rafters in their two-story ranch on Ardmore Drive in Roanoke County.
"It didn't even break a window," said Robert Sherertz, a retired architect. He estimated damage to the house at about $25,000.
Ed Culp, Roanoke superintendent for parks for grounds, said the city got more than 200 calls for help with trees, and his crews had spotted many downed trees that hadn't been reported.
He said there was no pattern to the storm damage in the city, but there were pockets where damage was heavier, including the area around Victory Stadium.
Three big oak trees were felled in Eureka Park Southeast where playground equipment also was damaged. Highland Park Southwest also had a lot of trees down, Culp said.
A big oak blocked Oakcrest Street in Southwest until shortly after noon Sunday.
However, the wind struck a heavy blow to the future of the Bradford pear tree that has been used prolifically to enhance Roanoke's public areas. Limbs hung to the ground on many of the Bradford pear trees that border South Roanoke Park along Wiley Drive.
Culp said so many Bradford pear trees were damaged that the city might need to rethink the use of them.
"They seem to be awful tender," he said.
This storm came along just as Roanoke was getting caught up with tree work from the blizzard this winter, Culp said.
He said city officials would meet today to decide how to handle pickup of residential debris.
He said his crew will be working to make alleys passable today and continuing to clean up trees.
"I haven't made any promises to anyone," Culp said. "I tell them we'll do the best as we can.
Culp said he only has eight tree workers and only six of them are certified.
"You can't just send anyone in to cut a tree," he said.
The Associated Press provided information for this story.
by CNB