CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A second winter storm in nearly as many weeks blasted the Charleston area Sunday evening into Monday, leaving roads a mess and thousands without power.
As of 11:30 a.m. Monday, over 14,000 Appalachian Power customers in Kanawha County did not have power. Kanawha County Commission reporting that the majority of the outages in the county are from the Elk River communities.
The majority of the county received between 5 to 7 inches of snow but the ice that came with the storm has caused the issues with power.
Brent Webster, the City of Charleston Public Works Director told 580-WCHS that his crews are assisting the power company in removing trees that have fallen from the ice. Some trees falling on power lines while other power lines were not able to handle the ice.
“Around 4 a.m. it seemed like trees started falling everywhere. We are still salting the roads of course but we have crews now cutting trees, removing trees, assisting AEP when they can,” Webster said.
Trees are also blocking roads and Webster said that is slowing down the clearing process of them by city crews.
Webster’s drives reported five inches of snow in downtown Charleston area with seven in the high top locations.
He said his crew is working 12 hour shifts but the ice has caused the clearing of the roads more difficult.
“Unfortunately, there are a lot of AEP trees that they have to take care of because of the power lines so it slows things down. They are out and working their tails off too,” Webster said.