According to Kevin Walker, director of the Fayette County Office of Emergency Management, a tornado warning issued for the county had expired Tuesday afternoon, but the winds associated with the storm left in their wake a good deal of damage.
Governor Jim Justice Tuesday afternoon issued a state of emergency for Fayette, Kanawha, Lincoln and Nicholas counties due to severe thunderstorms with high winds, which caused flooding, downed trees, power outages and road blockages.
A flood watch was still in effect for Fayette County until 10 p.m. Tuesday, and Walker advised the public to be wary and stay safe.
As of Tuesday afternoon at about 2:30 p.m., Walker said U.S. 19 was closed completely north- and south-bound in the area of Pea Ridge in Oak Hill due to high-tension power lines being down on the highway.
“We have multiple trees and lines down (throughout the county),” he said.
At that time, about 16,000 American Electric Power customers in Fayette County were without power, Walker noted.
At 3:15 p.m., Appalachian Power released its first storm response update following the storms which passed across Appalachian Power’s West Virginia service area late Tuesday morning into early afternoon, leaving 123,000 customers without electric service. The storm caused extensive damage, and further severe weather was expected Tuesday night, the release said, adding that additional outages were expected as storm activity continued through the night.
According to the release, the company planned for outages from the storm by having more than 200 company and contract workers on storm response alert. Those workers were traveling to areas with heavy damage to assist with service restoration.
Crews were working to restore power on large known outages, and damage assessors were patrolling lines in damaged areas to determine resources needed to make repairs.
An additional 1,000 storm response workers from states as far away as Indiana and Missouri were being mobilized to assist in West Virginia, the release stated.
According to Appalachian Power, restoration estimates are as follows:
• Wednesday, April 3, at 11 p.m. for approximately 90 percent of customers in Boone, Logan, Mingo and Raleigh counties.
• Thursday, April 4, at 11 p.m. for approximately 90 percent of customers in Cabell, Clay, Fayette, Greenbrier, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Mason, Nicholas, Putnam, Roane and Wayne counties.
• Most customers who were without service were expected to have power restored before the overall estimates stated above. Customers are encouraged to view the company’s outage map or sign up for outage alerts for information on their specific outage.
• Restoration may extend further in isolated instances where extensive repairs are needed.
• Additional severe weather and associated outages were expected through Tuesday night, which could extend overall estimates.
More bad weather with wind gusts over 30 mph was expected to create unsafe conditions for working aloft in buckets, which could slow restoration efforts in some areas, the company reported.
Customers should treat all downed lines as live power lines and stay away from them. Never touch downed power lines or sparking equipment. Keep children and pets away from fallen lines and anything the lines may touch, the company warned.
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Numerous calls have come into the Fayette E-911 Center, but “nothing’s been reported injury-wise,” Walker said at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. “We’ve had calls across the entire county.”
No flooding had been reported so far, he added.
Walker stressed that the poor weather might not have cycled completely out of the area. “We’ve still got more weather (predicted),” he said. “People need to be prepared and alert.”
In a press release the governor stated the declaration is a proactive measure ensuring the allocation of necessary resources and expedition of emergency response efforts. The state of emergency allows state and local agencies to take swift and decisive actions to mitigate the impact of the storms and protect the lives and property of West Virginians.
Earlier in the day, the governor issued a state of preparedness for the entire state, which was still in effect.
A posting on the Facebook page of the Fayette County Office of Emergency Management urges those who suffered damage from the storm to follow certain guidelines to report that damage. The post read, “In the wake of the current storms and the risk for more this afternoon, if you received damage you may report this to info@fayettecountywv.org. Please provide name, phone number, address (and) picture and a short description of the damage.”
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