Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 21, 1994 TAG: 9401210076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
If predictions hold, thermometers in the Roanoke Valley could climb above the freezing mark on Saturday, a week after an arctic high-pressure system in Canada pushed a frigid jet stream southward into the Eastern United States and coated the region with ice.
On Wednesday, rescue calls in Roanoke were running well above normal. City rescue workers handled 71 calls, compared with a norm of around 55.
"We're running pretty high again today," said dispatch supervisor Donna Caldwell on Thursday. "When the weather is bad, our calls increase."
Since temperatures started diving on Saturday, Roanoke Memorial Hospital's emergency room has treated an average of 25 people a day for weather-related injuries.
Thursday morning alone, it treated five broken hips.
By Thursday, Roanoke police had handled 160 traffic accidents since the ice storm hit the city on Monday. On Wednesday alone, traffic officers responded to 72 accidents. By Thursday afternoon, another 41 had been reported.
One casualty of the weather was Roanoke County Police Officer Miguel Villarini, whose patrol car slid backward on a sheet of ice on Twelve O'Clock Knob Road and plunged down a 40-foot embankment Wednesday afternoon. He was treated at Lewis-Gale Hospital for bruises and was released.
The only weather-related death in the state occurred in Richmond. A homeless man was found dead of hypothermia in the belfry of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, a medical examiner said Thursday. Gov. George Allen had opened three state buildings in Richmond as shelters for the homeless.
There were signs Thursday in Western Virginia that the frigid weather was easing up.
Thursday morning, Appalachian Power Co. called off its voluntary power conservation request. On Wednesday, Apco had asked its customers to cut unnecessary electrical use after the power demand hit an all-time high.
One troublesome side effect of the storm was that the Roanoke Valley's blood supply again dipped to dangerous levels.
With donors having to battle ice, the amount of available blood is 550 pints below the desirable number of 1,345, said Bob Lutjen, a spokesman for the American Red Cross.
The blood supply got alarmingly low during the Christmas holiday, when the blood bank was down 950 pints.
Associated Press contributed information to this story.
by CNB