THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 10, 1996 TAG: 9601100696
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN AND STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Gov. George F. Allen said Tuesday that the winter storm that walloped the state and most of the East Coast could cost Virginia $20 million.
He said a less powerful storm in 1993, which affected only two-thirds of the state, ended up with a price tag of $18.7 million.
``It's no longer pleasant-looking,'' Allen told CNN. ``We are getting in better shape . . . clearing as many roads as possible.''
Allen pressed the Department of Forestry into service, using its workers to give a break to Virginia Department of Transportation employees, many of whom have been working 12-hour or longer shifts since Saturday.
Virginia remained under a state of emergency Tuesday because of the storm, which has claimed the lives of 13 people.
The state Department of Emergency Services said 26 localities had declared their own emergencies.
Allen said hundreds of volunteers have used their own four-wheel-drive vehicles to get people to hospitals and to ferry key personnel to jobs at hospitals, and police and fire stations.
Even with the volunteers, the storm ``is going to cost right much,'' Allen said. And, ``I have the National Guard out, and they cost about $60,000 a day.''
More than 3,800 transportation department workers operating about 3,500 pieces of snow removal equipment have been dispatched to clear roads.
``We've been real busy,'' said Donna Purcell Mayes, a VDOT spokeswoman in Richmond. ``Our crews have been working around the clock. We're still advising people to not go out unless they really need to.''
Despite clearer skies in Hampton Roads, new snow was reported in parts of Northern Virginia. And temperatures dropped during the night, causing wet spots to freeze again. Sunny skies were forecast for the region today and Thursday.
The last few snow- and ice-filled days have cost upwards of $3 million a day statewide, she said, referring to just VDOT's figures.
In VDOT's Suffolk District - which includes the Peninsula, South Hampton Roads and runs from Emporia to the Eastern Shore and to Williamsburg - 560 employees have been working on snow removal.
Despite the ice, it did not appear they are going to run out of sand and salt anytime soon, said Bob Spieldenner, a spokesman in Chesapeake.
But, Mayes said, the nightly icing of roads - which resulted in hundreds of accidents, particularly at flyovers and bridges - has made treating the roads more difficult.
VDOT workers also have a hard time working around parked or abandoned cars, Mayes said.
Meanwhile, travel by bus or plane became easier Tuesday.
``Everything is back on schedule'' to most major cities, said Mike Geres, terminal manager at the Greyhound-Trailways bus station in Norfolk.
Some of the smaller bus stops between Richmond and Washington were having delays, he said.
``We were kind of fortunate here,'' Geres said. ``We just had a hard time that first night when the power went out.''
Travel also had improved at the Norfolk International Airport on Tuesday.
``The problem has been airports to the north of us impacting our traffic locally" said airport manager Wayne Shank. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
KEYWORDS: WEATHER STORM COST BLIZZARD by CNB