Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 8, 1993 TAG: 9306080264
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Assistant City Manager Jim Ritchie told City Council on Monday that the thunderstorms, with winds of up to 72 mph, caused more damage to trees in Roanoke than last winter's blizzard.
After the blizzard, city crews collected 279 truckloads of tree stumps, limbs and other debris. Ritchie said city officials estimate that the cleanup from Friday's storm will produce 300 to 400 truckloads of debris.
City residents should bring tree limbs, stumps and other debris to the street curb, where it will be collected. Ritchie said the downed trees and limbs should be cut into lengths of 4 feet or shorter.
The debris will be ground into mulch and be taken to the landfill.
City officials will decide today whether to hire private contractors after they get cost estimates and a more detailed report on the extent of the damage.
Ritchie said more 2,000 calls were received in the city's dispatch center during and after the storm, reporting fallen trees, power outages and other problems.
Mayor David Bowers appealed to city residents to have patience, saying city workers will clean up debris as quickly as they can.
Ritchie said the city's grounds maintenance crews have already been stretched to the limit in recent weeks because of the blizzard and wet spring.
After the blizzard, the crews spent several weeks cleaning up debris. Because of so much rain, they got behind in cutting the grass on highway median strips and in city parks.
Now, just when the crews had begun catching up, they must again collect storm debris, Ritchie said.
Ritchie said no city buildings were damaged, but a stage and canopy set up for a Friday night concert in Victory Stadium sustained $10,000 in damage. Grounds crews estimate that 120 trees in city parks were downed by the high winds.
By Monday, most people in the Roanoke Valley had their power, telephone and television cable service restored.
Appalachian Power Co. spokeswoman Victoria Ratcliff said at 9:30 p.m. that about 350 households were still without power, with the majority of those located near the Peaks of Otter where rough terrain made it difficult for Apco's crews to get to downed lines. At times Friday night, more than 47,000 households were without electricity.
More than double the work force Apco usually uses were working to get the remaining households turned back on, she said.
About 150 Cox Cable television customers still were waiting for full service, down from 15,000 to 20,000 customers who were affected Friday night, said General Manager Gretchen Shine. The company hoped to restore about a third of those Monday night and to have all service restored within 48 hours.
Don Reid, manager of Roanoke C&P Telephone Co., said about 3,000 homes still were without service Monday night. "These are isolated - one drop here, one service there. . . . "
In Bedford and Big Island, several hundred homes on the Bedford electrical system were still without power Monday. City Manager Jack Gross said he expected electricity to be restored to most of the homes by the end of Monday.
But Gross said there are isolated outages that would not be repaired until today or Wednesday. Friday's storm left some 6,000 homes in Bedford and Big Island - essentially everybody served by the Bedford system - without power.
Bedford had three city electrical crews working Monday, plus three crews hired from Harrisonburg, he said. The outside crews did not arrive in Bedford until Monday morning.
Staff writers Stephen N. Foster and Mark Morrison contributed information to this story.
by CNB