Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 18, 1994 TAG: 9401180292
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Kathy Loan Staff Writer
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
The icy roads and the weekend's extreme cold, expected to blast into the valley again today, meant burst water lines, canceled university classes and another "what-to-do?" day for working parents with children stranded at home.
One local plumber had received over 360 calls by Monday as sub-zero temperatures froze pipes and panicked homeowners and renters alike.
Chip Bryant, service manager for AAA Plumbing Heating and Electrical, said his business had been inundated with calls.
"It's the worst I've seen since 1982. We're getting today 20 calls an hour," Bryant said.
He estimated his business had been able to get to about 120 of the 360 calls for help.
Most of the calls were for frozen water lines, but about 60 calls were for heating problems.
"Mobile homes, they freeze as soon as we fix them," Bryant said.
He said people - especially those whose homes are close to the ground - should leave the water running and keep the wind from getting to exposed pipes.
Problems have been compounded by power failures and loss of heating sources such as heat pumps that have frozen," Bryant said.
Appalachian Power Co. was reporting scattered outages Monday, said Glenda Wohlford, administrative assistant.
"We're not having the trouble we had over the weekend," Wohlford said, when near-zero temperatures in the Roanoke and New River valleys set an all-time peak demand record. Virginia Tech officials decided at noon Monday to
cancel Tuesday's first day of classes - even as long lines of students threaded through class registration changes, financial aid check pick-ups, and other first-day-of-the-semester business.
"This is so typical of Blacksburg," said sophomore Lee Roebuck of Charlottesville, as the ice/rain thudded against the pavement outside Squires Student Center. "I don't think the weather makes any difference to anybody."
Apparently, that included those behind the wheel - who slipped and slid through more stop signs than most people cared to count.
"People are driving like there's nothing on the road," said Narrows native Vicki Ostrander, a freshman.
University offices at Virginia Tech shut down at 2 p.m. Administrators were on the phone to media outlets throughout Virginia, trying to get word of Tuesday's class cancellations to students who had not yet returned to Blacksburg.
"We simply want people off the roads today," Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said. Although exact counts were impossible, most students were
probably alreay back in town, said Ed Spencer, director of residential and dining programs, of the nearly 24,000 students who've been off since mid-December.
The icy halt to university business echoed the first day of classes after last year's Spring Break - brought to a screeching halt by the Great East Coast Blizzard of '93 in March.
"It looks like once again Virginia Tech students are getting stuck in a travel warp," Hincker said.
Officials had not decided Monday afternoon whether administrative offices and last-minute spring semester registration would re-open Tuesday, Hincker said.
Meanwhile, Radford University shut down at 3 p.m. Monday. Officials had not decided whether to cancel Tuesday's classes and business by late Monday afternoon. Montgomery County Schools were already closed Monday for
the state holiday. Schools closed Monday in Pulaski County in anticipation of ice and snow conditions, but a spokesman at the county Sheriff's Office said there had been no major accidents or weather-related problems during the icy morning weather.
On Sunday afternoon, the Underground Pub on North Main Street in Blacksburg closed when a waterline burst. Patrons watching the Kansas City Chiefs-Houston Oilers football playoff game were evacuated and the business was closed until 2 p.m. Monday.
James Watty, an ABC manager at the pub, said the waterline was near the rear of the building where it is generally colder than in the rest of the bar.
Monday morning, a small fire was quickly contained at the Interstate Mobile Home Park that apparently started when a 3-year-old boy was playing with a lighter under a bathroom sink. The plastic plumbing melted, sending water out to douse the fire, Christiansburg Police Sgt. Hank Epperly said.
In Floyd County, Jean Harmon at the Floyd Farm Bureau, reported "nice weather" for a change. It was 35 degrees while other parts of the valley were in the low thirties, quite a turnaround for Floyd, which usually is harder hit than other New River Valley locations.
Christiansburg Fire Chief Jim Epperly was complaining about the ice as he drove toward a wreck on Ellett Road Monday.
Law enforcement workers from across the valley constantly referred to secondary roads as "a solid sheet of ice" and spent the day responding to stranded motorists and weather-related accidents, but no major wrecks were reported.
"It's getting terrible," said Sgt. Frank Duffy with the Virginia State Police in Salem as icy rain and snow continued Monday.
Duffy said the Virginia Transportation Department was getting ice off the road, but the roads were icing up again in a matter of moments.
Day-shift troopers were staying to work overtime Monday and extra troopers were being called in, especially to deal with evening traffic as people left work for home and temperatures began to drop with nightfall, Duffy said.
"If we can just get them home and they'll stay," Duffy said.
The National Weather Service said snow and ice accumulations of 1 to 4 inches were anticipated Monday.
Today, look for temperatures around 10 degrees, bitter cold and windy weather and a chance of snow showers.
Information for this story was also contributed by Allison Blake, Paul Dellinger, Brian Kelley and Steve Foster.
by CNB