Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 10, 1994 TAG: 9401100069
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, W.VA. LENGTH: Medium
Cold, melting snow and ice hampered efforts to restore power for them and hundreds of thousands of others in the Appalachians and Northeast who were hit by two snow and ice storms last week.
About 17,600 West Virginia customers of Appalachian Power Co. and Monongahela Power Co. were without electricity Sunday. Most had been without power since Tuesday, when as much as 30 inches of heavy snow snapped tree limbs and power lines.
Thousands were still without electricity Sunday in the Northeast, but airports, trains and highways had mostly returned to normal. "Sidewalks are in many cases more of a problem than the streets," said Anne Canty of the New York City Sanitation Department.
Customers still without power Sunday in other states included 27,000 in New Jersey and 120,000 in the Philadelphia area, down from 557,000, utilities said. Service had been restored to about 10,000 customers in Rhode Island and 92,000 on New York's Long Island.
But electricity wasn't the only problem for the 16 residents at Tender Heart, in South Charleston, W.Va.
"There was one period where the phones went all dead, the electricity was off, the water was off," owner Wynona Wolfe said.
A fireplace provided heat until heaters and the generator could be brought in. "I was down to five logs and my truck was in a ditch. That was one night we had to rely on the Lord," Wolfe said. "I was scared."
Workers improvised to help keep everyone safe, said employee Mary DeLong.
Snow was melted on a gas stove for cooking and bathing. Straps from restraints were used as wicks for kerosene lamps, she said. With temperatures below the freezing point, a porch was used as a makeshift freezer.
One employee brought in meatloaf and lasagna cooked at home.
"If we don't pitch in and help, you can't do it," DeLong said.
The Forte Travelodge Motel in Mount Laurel, N.J., dropped its rates from $79 to $39 to help out people with no power, said night manager Deborah Maull.
Asked how hotel workers could tell which customers had no electricity, Maull said: "They have a desperate look."
by CNB