ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604150130
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTOPHER RICKETT
A storm system that moved through Southwest Virginia on Saturday night caused sporadic power outages and downed trees and power lines, but there were no initial reports of injuries.
The storm system, which traveled at 40 to 50 mph, did its greatest damage in Pulaski and Wythe counties, where AEP reported several hundred outages.
According to the National Weather Service office in Blacksburg, the storm carried heavy lightning and high winds - Roanoke Regional Airport reported gusts of up to 58 mph, and winds reached 61 mph in Blacksburg - but died down considerably by the time it moved east of Roanoke.
Jan Jackson, a Weather Service meteorologist, said the storm peaked in Wythe and Pulaski counties.
The Wythe County Sheriff's Office reported three tree fires, two caused by downed lines and one by lightning.
Jackson said the storm caused unspecified structural damage in Pulaski County, but officials there could not confirm it.
Firefighters in Bedford County responded to a fire caused by lightning at an abandoned farm structure on U.S. 221. The structure had burned to the ground by the time officials arrived on the scene.
Ted Aaron, manager of AEP's Christiansburg district, which serves about 35,000 customers, said 200 outages were reported as of 9 p.m.
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