CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Much like areas across the Mountain State in the grips of Winter Storm Blair, those in the City of Charleston are trying to navigate the impacts.
Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin came on 580 Live with Dave Allen Monday morning after the first round of the winter storm dumped about five inches of snow across Kanawha County followed by some ice over the course of Sunday night.
Goodwin said despite the preparations the city makes there’s always an element of unpredictability to it.
“We plan for this, but again, you know, we plan for this, but it’s Mother Nature and we live in Appalachia,” said Goodwin. 
The state is now bracing for another storm system to push through Monday evening bringing another 1 to 3 inches of snow, and Goodwin said they are trying to continue to be as ready as they can.
She said they currently have 17 salt trucks working around the clock pre-treating, salting, and scraping the roadways with primary roads the first priority.
However, Goodwin said the snow is one thing, but throwing ice into the mix is a whole other beast to tackle.
“Snow is always an issue, but it is the ice that snarls traffic and causes most of our accidents and the power outages that you see,” she said.
Charleston Public Works Director Brent Webster said the overnight ice has created some heightened challenges beyond just salting and scraping.
He said they are currently out working to clear many fallen trees, but that is taking away from their salting and plowing efforts. Webster said they are also working with Appalachian Power to manage downed live power lines.
He said there are more challenges still to come as the second round of storm rolls through Monday night.
“It’s going to be a slow process, we got more snow coming, it’s a bigger snow storm than we’ve had in a while, but we’re out here doing our best, but it’s very challenging right now,” Webster said.
Webster said the fallen trees have created a situation where their crews are even being cut off from a few neighborhoods around the city, he said one in particular being in the Sherwood Forest area.
It has also been reported that at least two homes were hit by fallen trees. The first incident was reported on Daytona Drive in the Rutledge area about 7 a.m. Monday, and the second occurred a few hours later near Quick Road.
Pinch fire crews say the first home hit only suffered minimal damage but brought down power lines as well, while they said the second home suffered a lot of damage. No injuries were reported, however.
Webster said it’s going to take a couple of days to get everything cleared.
But, in addition, Webster said the rain and freezing temperatures will continue to delay their efforts even more.
“You know, we always try to get our roads as black as possible and get the snow cleared out of the right-of-way on our routes, but in a storm like this that won’t be possible,” he said.
He said the standing water on the roads will try to freeze if Public Works crews can’t get salt on it, but Webster added that salt won’t do any good at below 20 degree temperatures.
Webster said for people to just stay home if at all possible, but if you must go out, just do so with much caution.
“You should at the very least, just prepare for delays and maybe, you know, based on where you’re traveling, could be a little bit of patchy, icy, even snowy road,” Webster said.
Goodwin said it’s not only the Public Works Department with full teams out and about Monday, but it’s all hands on deck with extra fire crews, law enforcement and EMS.
She said they continue to remain prepared and vigilant throughout all conditions.
“We practice these routes, by the way, we practice these routes almost like you’re getting ready for a competition, because it is a high-stress time for our drivers, they’re on hill sides, cliffs,” said Goodwin.
But, like always, Webster said we will all get through this together.
“We’ll get through this, we always do, but this is going to be a very challenging storm.”