Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 23, 1993 TAG: 9303230305
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BRISTOL LENGTH: Medium
WORKERS PILED UP BLIZZARD HOURS
It has taken an estimated 50,000 hours of work by Virginia Department of Transportation employees and contracted labor to clear 12 Southwest Virginia counties of snow and ice from the recent blizzard in the Bristol District.About 700 department employees and dozens of contracted workers from coal companies, road-building firms and other private companies worked around-the-clock shifts for days to clear more than 7,300 miles in the region, said District Maintenance Engineer Dan Marston.
"The cost of the VDOT's snow removal during the storm is probably going to be roughly $2 million, based on our initial estimates," he said. "This includes manpower, equipment costs, hired equipment and labor, chemicals and other materials."
Bristol District Administrator Jack Corley said state police handled traffic so dangerous interstate locations could be plowed and treated with chemicals. Help also came from county sheriffs' departments, units of the National Guard and U.S. Army Reserves, and citizen volunteers, he said.
Many department employees worked 24 hours or more continuously under tough conditions, he said.
Employees Mike Carter and Clyde Carter (no relation) from the Fort Blackmore area worked that long without stopping in efforts to reach a dozen young people stranded on High Knob Recreational Area in Wise County. They got help from Johnny Ramey of the Coeburn area headquarters, volunteers Danny Anderson and Norman Sawyer and an H&H Logging Co. crew.
They reached the group about 10:30 p.m. March 13 and, after a grueling descent, reached the bottom of the mountain with them at 4 a.m. the next day.
In Wythe County, equipment operators Jerry Bell and Ralph Arnold waded through waist-high drifts to reach a family whose vehicle was stranded on Virginia 625. They carried children ages 2 and 3 to the truck of department Speedwell Area Superintendent Ralph Copenhaver and returned to bring out the mother, who was later treated for hypothermia.
"Jerry took the clothes off his back to give to the woman," Copenhaver said. Bell gave her his coat and shoes.
Office buildings at Big Walker and East River Mountain Tunnels on Interstate 77 became shelters for about 100 motorists.
"Some of our employees even took stranded motorists into their homes for the night," said John Bishop, resident engineer for Wythe and Grayson counties. Employee Gary Stallard took in four people whose vehicle was stuck in a snowbank.
"During the storm, our employees cleared the paths for emergency personnel to reach a pregnant lady, a person needing to have kidney dialysis, a person on a respirator whose electricity was cut off and many others in life-or-death situations," Bishop said.
Employees Sam Page and Jackie Boyd spent nearly nine hours plowing steep Caney Ridge in Dickenson County so a rescue squad could reach a woman hemorrhaging from recent surgery. Page ended up using his truck to bring an emergency medical technician to her aid.
B.L. French of Bland Area headquarters spent four hours plowing a path for a power company crew stranded for several hours. Leland Branham, resident engineer for Wise and Dickenson counties, coordinated the rescue of two gas company employees stranded for more than 36 hours near Nora.
In the 12-county Salem District, snow removal and other costs associated with the storm could run between $3 million and $4 million, the district's maintenance engineer said Monday.
"We still have costs coming in because we haven't finished everything yet," Allen Williams said. "There's going to be some pretty good costs before it's over with."
He expects more precise estimates by the end of the week.
Staff writer Daniel Howes contributed to this report.