Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 6, 1995                   TAG: 9510060049
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY  
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

WEATHER LOOKED NASTIER THAN IT REALLY WAS

Winds as high as 52 mph were recorded at the New River Valley Airport in Dublin. Fallen limbs and some uprooted trees knocked down utility lines, creating scattered power outages to about 1,300 Apco customers across the New River Valley.

Some areas had as much as 3 inches of rain, which fell during predawn and morning hours in sporadic downpours. Yet no flooding was reported, as the moisture was readily absorbed by thirsty ground parched by the summerlong drought.

"It was a nice rain," said Dan Brann, a Virginia Tech agriculture professor.

Slick roads and reduced visibility created by driving rain caused some problems for morning commuters. However, state police reported no road closings.

After battering the Gulf Coast, Opal turned westward as the storm reached the base of the Appalachian mountains. According to the National Weather Service, the mountain chain shielded the New River Valley and surrounding area as it forced Opal toward the Ohio River Valley.

Forecasters had predicted that course Wednesday evening before the storm arrived, so the area never experienced a sense of alarm. However, Giles County was one of several Western Virginia localities to close schools Thursday as a precaution.

Memories of the 1989 devastation caused by Hurricane Hugo and flooding that occurred earlier this year made Bob McCracken, Giles County's school superintendent, wary.

"Anyone who remembers those storms would be doing the same thing," he said.

McCracken said Narrows Elementary School, which is under renovation, suffered some flooding damage from the storm.

At Virginia Tech, caution was what public safety official Richard Alvarez had in mind when he contacted folks in the residence halls to talk about student safety.

"You know the flood we had several years ago," he said by way of explanation. "The Drillfield was a regular river. I just didn't want to be caught unaware."

The Blacksburg branch library had to close its children's room when the rain caused leaking. The facility was vulnerable because renovation work had removed the roof over the children's room, but only one book was damaged by moisture, librarians said.

At the Mountain Lake resort, an employee said the wind and rain brought down much of the fall foliage, which had just begun to turn color.

Some maple's orange leaves won't be flaming brightly along Blacksburg's South Main Street anymore this fall, either. They're on the sidewalk now, sheared from their branches, possibly the most visible legacy of the storm that wasn't.

Staff writers Paul Dellinger, Lisa Applegate, Elissa Milenky and Allison Blake contributed information to this story.