Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 17, 1994 TAG: 9401170064
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
About a fourth of the 1,300 residents of Hallock in northwestern Minnesota trudged to neighbors' homes and the city hall for water Sunday after a water tower pipe froze and water mains broke following days of subzero temperatures.
"We've left the city hall open so people can get water from the kitchen," said city clerk Hank Noel.
Noel said it would be a day or two before busy crews arrive with equipment to thaw a pipe from an underground storage tank.
Watertown, N.Y., chilled to 43 below early Sunday, the coldest spot in the lower 48 states, the National Weather Service said.
"Everybody's pretty miserable up here. Their cars won't start and they're not very happy," said Jay Uhlein, owner of the Pewter Mug tavern.
A combination of a 20-below temperature and a 22 mph wind made it feel like 69 below zero at Greenville, Maine, on Sunday.
Temperatures fell below zero as far south as eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina.
The northern North Dakota town of Adams, population 250, also was without water after four water main breaks since Thursday.
"We're melting snow," city auditor Linda Grove said. "Some people have stores of water. . . . People are driving out of town to get water at friends' and relatives' houses."
In West Point, Ky., about 1,325 customers were without water Sunday because the well that supplies the water treatment plant froze, said Jeff Wright, the town's assistant fire chief.
Subzero temperatures in much of West Virginia left 7,000 Appalachian Power Co. customers without service Sunday, spokesman Jack Shaver said. Snapped power lines knocked out service to 6,200 customers in southeastern Michigan, according to Detroit Edison Co.
In eastern Kentucky, about 330 South Williamson residents lost gas heat early Sunday when a pipeline froze, said Ziad Shaheen of Columbia Gas Distribution Co.
In nearby Belfry, Ky., a shelter for people without heat was set up at the courthouse, said fire department spokesman Mike Davis.
"But you know how stubborn some people are," Davis said. "There are a few people here, some have electric heat and some are toughing it out."
People crowded shelters elsewhere. Philadelphia's Ridge Avenue homeless shelter for men had "more than a full house" Saturday night - about 411 men compared with the usual 250 - said supervisor Aubrey Stone.
Workers in the District of Columbia spent the weekend driving around the city distributing blankets and hot chocolate to homeless people who refused to go to shelters.
A temperature of 4 below zero and a wind chill of 38 below hampered firefighters battling a three-alarm house fire in Revere, Mass. Deputy Fire Chief Dan Doherty said hoses froze, equipment became encrusted with ice, radios would not function and retractable ladders jammed. The body of a 35-year-old man was found in the ruins.
The storm was moving eastward and winter storm watches were posted through Monday as far south as western North Carolina.
Despite a low of 12 below zero, about 15 people held their ground in a small encampment outside the Civic Center in Charleston, W.Va., in the hope of being first in line when tickets go on sale Monday for a Feb. 12 Reba McEntire concert.
by CNB