HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Widespread damage was being reported in Cabell County after the second ice storm to hit the Huntington Tri-State in less than a week.
“We’ve got power outages everywhere,” Jerry Beckett, emergency planner for the Cabell County Office of Emergency Services, told MetroNews on Tuesday morning as damage assessments continued.
At that point, information from Appalachian Power indicated more than 60 percent of the company’s customers in Cabell County did not have power.
Beckett had been in touch with Appalachian Power officials.
“They’re saying this is probably equivalent to the derecho in 2012 when we had so much damage as far as trees down, poles down, transformers, things like that,” Beckett said.
On Monday night during the height of the storm, “The power company had to call their crews in because it was too dangerous for them to work. The trees were just snapping, poles snapping and everything, but they are back out and at it.”
The Barboursville Community Center opened on Tuesday morning as a warming center for people without power.
Masks were required at the site along with social distancing, where possible, to comply with COVID-19 protocols.
That was the case at other sites in Cabell County.
An additional Barboursville warming site was also being set up at Farmdale Church of Christ.
In Huntington, the Salvation Army was being used as a shelter site.
Hours were from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday for a separate warming station at the A.D. Lewis Community Center.
In some cases, Beckett said generators had been staged at potential emergency sites in Salt Rock, Milton, Barboursville and Huntington back on Sunday in preparation for this latest storm.
For thousands of Cabell County residents, the power has been out since last Wednesday night when the first ice storm hit.
Schools in Cabell County were closed on Tuesday and so was Marshall University.
By 10 a.m. Tuesday, those with Huntington’s Public Works Department were reporting more than three dozen downed trees that were blocking roads.
“Please stay off roads unless it is absolutely necessary,” a Huntington Facebook message read. “The roads are deceptively treacherous due to icy conditions. Trees continue to fall and power lines are down in many areas as well.”
Where possible, Beckett was advising people to stay home.
“Stay warm. Make sure that, if you’re using portable heaters, you keep combustibles away from it. Do not use propane inside. Make sure you’ve got a carbon monoxide detector,” he said.
As of Tuesday morning, Appalachian Power was not making power restoration projections for Cabell County as preliminary damage assessments continued.
The company had 2,600 workers from seven states in the larger storm zone
“We just encourage people to do the best they can. If they’ve got family members they can go to, we encourage them to do that. Neighbors, check on each other. Make sure they don’t need anything,” Beckett said.
“We’re all in this together.”