Power Restoration Gets Difficult in Remote Areas of Ohio Valley | News, Sports, Jobs

Workers from Sidelines Tree Service and Landscaping work Monday afternoon to remove a large piece of a tree that fell into fencing around the tennis courts at Oglebay Park. Ice accumulation felled trees throughout the Ohio Valley last week. (Photo by
Derek Redd)

WHEELING – While people’s furnaces come back on thanks to repairs made by American Electric Power workers — who in some cases can only reach the damage by foot — emergency managers are keeping an eye on local creek levels.

Lou Vargo, director of the Wheeling-Ohio County Emergency Management Agency, said AEP officials have informed him a majority of those without electricity from Thursday’s ice storm were expected to have it restored by Monday night.

As of early Monday evening, 3,353 people in Ohio and Marshall counties were still without power.

“Their predictions are by 10 p.m. … There are smaller outages in the county that they have crews working on. Hopefully by tonight the majority of them will be back on,” Vargo said Monday.

Meanwhile as the temperatures begin to warm this week, it will make conditions better for line workers, but now the potential for flooding is there with ice and snowmelt occurring.

Vargo noted the Ohio Valley’s creeks and streams and the Ohio River are also impacted by what’s coming downstream from Pennsylvania.

At the height of Thursday’s ice storm, more than 13,000 people were without power in the Northern Panhandle. The region received about a half-inch of ice followed by 1 to 3 inches of snow on top of it.

The ice coated the trees, causing their branches to become heavy and snap, falling onto numerous powerlines. The downed trees also covered roadways making the job of repairing the lines more difficult.

Some areas are so riddled with downed trees and lines that AEP-Appalachian Power workers are heading to areas on foot, said spokeswoman Joelle Moray. She noted because of the difficult working conditions restoration times for some people may extend into today and Wednesday.

“Additional line workers and tree crews arrived (Monday) morning to assist with restoration efforts,” she said. “Restoring power has proven difficult, in part, due to ice-covered and muddy road conditions on secondary roads caused by thawing and refreezing.”

About 400 AEP employees are working on restoring power in the Northern Panhandle.

Tom Hart, director of the Marshall County Emergency Management Agency, said many residents’ power has been restored, but there will be some people who will have to wait “a few more days” until it is back on.

Line workers, he said, are working hard to gain access to remote areas. A long chain saw connected to a helicopter was being used Monday to reach areas.

“It’s been a daunting task for these utility workers,” he said. “Some locations are so remote it’s not safe to take equipment or their vehicles in.”

Hart said some county Public Service District pump stations also are still without power. He said, however, electric workers are making a lot of progress in restoring power to those pump stations along various ridges and lanes in the county.

“Once they’re restored it takes several hours to get the tanks filled,” he added.

Hart said a few people have taken advantage of warming stations with Cameron’s municipal building being the most used. Other people, he believes, are staying with family and friends or at hotels in the area.

With the county being a more rural area, Hart believes many residents have alternative sources of heat, such as wood burners and wood stoves.

Hart noted he is not anticipating flooding issues with this week’s rise in temperature, as the last increase in temperature before the ice storm melted much of the snowpack.

Damage from ice and downed trees was extensive in many parts of the Ohio Valley, but Oglebay Park in particular was hit hard. Rod Haley, Oglebay’s executive vice president of operations, said that they were thankful that major structural damage was kept to a minimum.

Yet power outages, debris and downed branches still caused headaches for the park both in the immediate aftermath of the winter storm, and likely for weeks to come.

“We had significant tree limb damage. Overall, we were very fortunate that very little structural damage (occurred),” Haley said. “One light tunnel was hit by some trees, and a few other smaller things, but as far as buildings and other structures, we’re very lucky that trees didn’t take anything out.”

Part of one large tree peeled off the trunk and landed in the fencing of some of Oglebay’s tennis courts. Tree removal crews spent Monday afternoon clearing those branches from the area.

Haley said that the resort was able to work around what areas had lost power and not only rehome guests who had rented cabins and cottages, but they were able to provide shelter to a few local residents who were left without power in the cold. Haley was not able to provide a number for how many people were assisted that way.

“We lost power at our ski area, and some of our cottages. Fortunately, we were able to move some guests around and get through that,” he said. “… We did receive significant calls from the community looking for shelter and rooms, with the power outage, and we were able to accommodate some, but not all. We did the best we can opening up rooms, getting them clean and set up for the community that were without power.”

Haley credited American Electric Power for their rapid response in getting the resort, and the wider area, back up and running. He expects a somewhat lengthy cleanup effort with removing the downed branches and debris, and advises that visitors be cautious for the immediate future, as debris and ice are still falling in dangerous amounts from the nearby trees.

“We’ll be several months cleaning up debris and things like that,” he said. “I’d like to caution any of our community to keep an eye out. There’s still potential for ice falling as it melts off.”