Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 14, 1993 TAG: 9303150538
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP and DAVID POOLE STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
MAKING THE MOST OF THE SITUATION
SATURDAY'S BLIZZARD turned life upside down. It stranded people without power or heat. It shut down just about every business. But it also tossed late-winter fun at snow-starved Virginians.
When they picked up cross-country skis at an end-of-season sale last week, Cathy Fisher and Gail Burruss figured it'd be a year before they could try them out.
How wrong they were.
"Lo and behold, look at this," Burruss said, beaming as snow swirled around her Saturday afternoon at Highland Park.
Burruss and Fisher spent several hours gliding along Old Southwest streets that were covered with more than a foot of snow.
Other Roanokers waxed their skis and swooshed down side streets that had been turned into miniature slopes.
John Mottley was hoping to make a run down Edgewood Road Southwest. Then snow plows turned it into a street again.
"I was over on that steep hill over there, but they scraped it and messed it all up," said Mottley, a Winterplace ski lift ticket dangling from his jacket. And out in the fields . . .
Farmers struggled through blinding snow and mounting drifts Saturday to tend to newborn lambs and calves and to feed their snow-covered flocks.
The snow blew so hard, "at times, you could hardly see," said Bill Bratton, a cattle and sheep farmer, just back from feeding cattle in Highland County. He and his family had trouble keeping even one door to their house clear of the drifts.
As the drifts piled to 5 feet Saturday afternoon, Bratton got ready to go out to find newborn calves that their mothers had hidden in the briers of far fields the day before. His lambs, including triplets born Saturday morning, were safe in the barn.
"It's going to be very rough on livestock," he said. "Some of the weak ones may not make it."
Saturday afternoon, Susie Bell waited for her husband, Clint, to return from a trip on horseback to check on his cattle. "They're having a terrible time trying to feed today," she said. Trucks couldn't get through the snow at their farm in Wards Cove, southwestern Tazewell County.
At Collierstown in Rockbridge County, farmer Joan Potter found a lamb born outside Saturday morning. "He was plastered with snow," she said. She wrapped it in a sack and warmed it in a shed.
Time for s'mores
Guests stuck at Mountain Lake Hotel in Giles County shoveled snow and tended to the fireplace Saturday. The chef was there, thank goodness, but some staffers couldn't make it up the slippery mountain.
"It's turned into a big family event," front desk clerk Stuart Galyean said.
The guests were such good sports that the hotel manager rounded up ingredients for s'mores, the gooey campfire treats made from graham crackers, dark chocolate and melted marshmallows.
A write-up in The New York Times lured some New Yorkers to the Peaks of Otter Lodge just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Bedford County this weekend. Saturday, they were stuck there.
The parkway was closed and the power was out. Desk clerk Tina Miller said guests were hanging around the fireplace, getting acquainted, doing crossword puzzles. The blizzard roared outside. "They go out," she said, "but not for long."
Interstates 77 and 81 in Wythe County closed Saturday because of the snow, and motorists quickly filled up motels.
"They've been coming all day," said Stu Vaught, a clerk at the Comfort Inn on 81. "In fact, here come some more in our lobby. It's been a hectic day."
The Holiday Inn was full of stranded people, too. "Very uptight," was the way a desk clerk described them. "They all want food, something to drink and something to do."
Two busloads of high school kids were stuck there. "They're pretty restless," he said.
Guests were riding sleds in the motel parking lot. The high school kids, right? No, he said, older people.
`Me? I never give up'
You could walk down the middle of Campbell Avenue in downtown Roanoke Saturday, there was so little traffic.
"Not that different from a weekend downtown," one twentysomething wag said as he took off down Campbell on his bike.
The storm knocked down part of an old elm in front of the main library on Jefferson Street.
Valley Metro buses ran on a snow schedule.
What was a snow day for most was a 12-hour work day for Shirley Dudley. She works in the deli at the Kroger grocery at Crossroads Mall.
She got to work at 3 a.m. and, waiting for her bus at the Campbell Court bus station downtown, figured she wouldn't get home until about 3 p.m.
Store customers were desperate for food, especially bread. They wanted "everything," she said. " Everything." Her steam tables were scraped bare.
Downtown, not even Woolworth's was open. The Weiner Stand? Texas Tavern? By mid-afternoon, all the faithfuls were closed.
Except for Tony's Place on Salem Avenue and the Capital Restaurant on Market Street.
"Me? I never give up," said Voula Tampasis, or "Mrs. Tony," as the owner of Tony's Place is known.
She reopened the day after the flood of 1985 gushed past her grill, so a little blizzard wouldn't stop her. She sold out of her popular chicken, baked with oregano and garlic.
The Capital was rocking Saturday with the country tunes and frosty drafts. "I been busy all day, since 7 in the morning," owner Malik Hasan said.
He vowed to stay open until midnight even though he lives on a mountainside near Vinton.
"I have nice tires on my car, real nice, $100 tires," he said.
The important stuff
The parking lot of Blockbuster Video near Tanglewood Mall looked like a 4x4 rodeo. Broncos. Jeep Cherokees. Ford pickups.
A stockpile of videos - like milk and bread - have become staples for blizzard-bound families.
Tracey Bowles and Kelly Sexton left Copper Croft apartments in search of movies. Electric Road was dicey, so they hoofed it along the southbound lane.
"First time we've ever walked up 419," Sexton said.
The weather turned the simplest errand into an adventure. People who would never think of walking to the corner for a pack of cigarettes were out strolling right smack down the middle of the street.
The good Samaritan
Most people let the snow pile up on their cars, but others had no choice but to take their chances.
Gladys Jones would have liked to stay home, but she had to drive across town to check on two elderly women whom she cares for during the day.
"They are both over 80 and they need someone to look after them," she said.
Jones lost control of her car, rammed a snowbank and broke her radiator.
\ THE STORM\ OTHER STATES HIT\ \ LOUISIANA: Up to an inch of snow within 30 miles of New Orleans. Winds knocked out po customers Friday night. Freeze threatened peaches, blueberries, strawberries and other crops.\ \ MISSISSIPPI: Up to 6 inches of snow at Meridian. About 6,500 customers without power. Temperatures expected to plunge into mid-teens.\ \ ALABAMA: Record 15 inches of snow at Birmingham. Roads closed throughout state. Gusts to 45 mph whipped snow into drifts up to 6 feet deep. One weather-related fatality. Power outages affecting 382,000.\ \ FLORIDA: Ankle-deep snow in Panhandle. Fifty tornadoes; wind gusts to 109 mph in Dry Tortugas, west of Key West. At least 13 people dead. Nearly 2 million people without power. Dump trucks and boats used to evacuate people in Gulf Coast homes flooded by water 6 feet deep.\ \ GEORGIA: 16 inches in north Georgia mountains. Wind gusts above 50 mph, wind chills 20 below zero. At least 300,000 customers without power. All roads hazardous. Atlanta's Hartsfield airport closed. State of emergency declared.\ SOUTH CAROLINA: 12 inches of snow in northern mountains. Almost 120,000 customers without power. Utility crews reported gusts up to 70 mph. Greenville airport closed.\ \ NORTH CAROLINA: Two feet of snow at Asheville. I-40 west of Asheville and I-26 north of Green River to Asheville closed by heavy snow and jackknifed trucks. Shelters open in seven counties. One traffic death blamed on snowy roads. Power out to 55,000 customers.\ \ TENNESSEE: Up to 21 inches of snow. Two deaths reported in Knox County area. Unknown number of motorists reported stranded. Power outages in eastern part of state. Parts of Interstates 24, 40 and 65 closed.\ \ KENTUCKY: All highways in eastern Kentucky closed. Eighteen inches of snow in Floyd County by early afternoon. Three-foot drifts block roads.\ \ OHIO: 15 inches of snow reported in southeastern part of state. Lawrence County roads closed by drifts several feet deep. WEST VIRGINIA: 14 inches of snow at Lewisburg. Interstate 68 closed. Winds of 44 mph in Martinsburg. Three feet of snow expected in mountains.
MARYLAND: Baltimore-Washington International Airport closed until 6 a.m. Sunday. Utilities report 93,000 customers lost power.\ \ DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: National and Dulles airports closed. Smithsonian Institution museums closed.\ \ DELAWARE: Dewey Beach mayor ordered evacuation of all elderly, handicapped and oceanfront residents. National Guard called out.\ \ PENNSYLVANIA: Up to 12 inches of snow. Airports in Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh closed. All interstate highways closed.\ \ NEW JERSEY: 13 inches of snow at Cherry Hill. Midday high tide flooded some streets in low-lying coastal areas; waves to 25 feet driven by 70 mph gusts expected. Evacuations along shore. Newark airport closed. About 25,000\ customers without power.\ \ NEW YORK: Wind up to 60 mph on Long Island beaches. LaGuardia and Kennedy airports closed. State Thruway closed from New York City area to Rochester. Windows blown out in Manhattan high-rises. Some coastal residents evacuated.\ \ RHODE ISLAND: State of emergency declared. Coastal residents asked to evacuate. Shelters opened in 16 communities.\ \ MASSACHUSETTS: High tide Saturday afternoon up to 4 feet above normal; 10,000 people evacuated. Emergency declared, National Guard activated. Tolls waived on Massachusetts Turnpike to get drivers home faster. Boston's airport closed. St. Patrick's Day parade postponed.\ \ NEW HAMPSHIRE: Wind gusts of 50 mph Saturday. Voluntary evacuation along the coast. Manchester airport closed. Storm's height expected to coincide with high tide 3 a.m. Sunday.\ \ MAINE: Schools and fire stations opened as shelters near shore in southern Maine. State of emergency declared. Parking banned in cities and speed limits were lowered.