Storm brings ice, outages
Published 9:59 am Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Winter Storm Gia did not bring as much snow to the Heart of Virginia as its predecessor, Winter Storm Diego in December, but the storm brought a substantial amount of sleet and freezing rain over the weekend. The resulting ice on tree limbs and power lines caused numerous outages, downed trees and school cancellations for Charlotte County residents.
A snowfall analysis from the National Weather Service in Wakefield estimates that the Charlotte County area, including Keysville, Charlotte Court House and Phenix received between a tenth of an inch to an inch of snow.
Power company Southside Electric Cooperative (SEC) estimated that at the height of the storm, nearly 11,000 of its customers were without power. SEC, over the weekend, warned customers that it may be days before power is restored.
The number of households without power in Charlotte County reached more than 1,000 over the weekend between SEC and Dominion Energy.
As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, SEC estimates that there are approximately 1,200 customers in the region without power. The company is working with mutual aid crew to restore power.
As of Tuesday morning, the Virginia Department of Transportation reported no adverse road conditions in Charlotte County.
Virginia State Police reported that during the course of the storm, or from midnight to 5:30 p.m. Sunday, crews responded to 324 traffic crashes and assisted 196 disabled/stuck motorists statewide, not to mention the 44 traffic crashes and 11 disabled vehicles studied as of the time that the release was issued.
There were three crashes over the weekend that resulted in fatalities, including the death of a 16-year-old passenger in Brunswick County.
According to findings from VSP, these are the number of traffic crashes and disabled vehicles state police troopers responded by division. The Appomattox Division includes Charlotte County:
Richmond Division: 107 traffic crashes & 29 disabled vehicles
Culpeper Division: 40 traffic crashes & 30 disabled vehicles
Appomattox Division: 28 traffic crashes & 13 disabled vehicles
Wytheville Division: 12 traffic crashes & 4 disabled vehicles
Chesapeake Division: 49 traffic crashes & 21 disabled vehicles
Salem Division: 18 traffic crashes and 18 disabled vehicles
Fairfax Division: 68 traffic crashes and 81 disabled vehicles