Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Snow-weary folks brace for more
The next wave is expected to drop a few inches today in Southwest Virginia.
JARED SOARES The Roanoke Times
Nathan Hunt and his son Aaron Hunt, 10, dig out their driveway Monday afternoon in Roanoke. More snow is on the way.
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From today's paper
- Snow-weary folks brace for more
- Roanoke Valley crews head north to help with snowfall
- Snow causes roof to collapse in Pulaski
- Dan Casey: Southerners scoff at shoveling sidewalks
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Listen carefully, and you may just hear the groan.
Another snowstorm was expected to arrive in the Roanoke and New River valleys today, bringing another 4 or 5 inches, said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg.
Hear it now? Groan. From parents and plow drivers, police officers and undertakers. Even meteorologists.
"We'll be happy when it's summer," Chenard said. Forecasters are trying to remain in a good mood, cataloging streams of data on four storms in 11 days. "We're in meteorology because we like the weather," Chenard said.
Life goes on, and so does death. But winter weather makes even that complicated.
Try planning a funeral in this stuff.
"Most everybody's wanting to go with a funeral indoors," said Sammy Oakey, president of Oakey's Funeral Service & Crematory in Roanoke.
That doesn't solve everything. Oakey's has been rescheduling funerals, or delaying them altogether. Mourners can't make it to services, and family members can't make it in to plan a funeral.
When that happens, Oakey's has what Oakey called a "very diginified room" where the "decedents" can wait.
This winter's series of storms hasn't done much to contribute directly to Oakey's business.
Hospitals have seen the usual spate of wounded sledders and shoveling-induced heart attack victims.
"We get a lot of slip and slides, a lot of falls," said Dr. Robert Dowling, medical director for Lewis-Gale Medical Center's emergency department. "And we usually get a heart attack or two."
Dowling said about five to 10 people show up a day after a heavy snowfall.
At Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, fewer than 20 people sought treatment in the emergency department during the three days following Friday's storm, spokesman Eric Earnhart said. "It's pretty typical."
Virginia State Police spent these most recent winter days running from crash to crash. Statewide, troopers responded to more than 5,000 calls for service, including nearly 2,000 wrecks -- most without injury -- and about 2,100 disabled vehicles.
The Salem Division logged 270 crashes, while the Wytheville Division responded to 207. A father and son were killed on Interstate 81 in Wythe County in Friday's storm.
Troopers have logged extra hours, with 75 percent of uniformed officers on the roads, compared with 50 percent in fairer weather. Many troopers had their shifts extended to 12 hours, from the typical eight, or went without days off, said Sgt. Rob Carpentieri, a state police spokesman.
Overtime and unbudgeted expenses are piling up all over state and local government.
Even before the past two storms, the Virginia Department of Transportation's Salem District had spent $5.4 million of its $7.2 million snow-removal budget. Statewide, the agency blew through its $79 million snow-removal budget by Feb. 1 and began tapping its $25 million reserve fund for emergency maintenance.
With snow still piled high in Northern Virginia from last week's storm, that reserve fund will likely be gone soon, according to VDOT officials. Today's storm could cut deeper into the agency's budget.
And this list of storm-induced headaches would be incomplete without those parents trapped at home with restless kids.
Adam Rorrer, 9, hasn't been to a full day of school at Auburn Elementary in Riner since Jan. 29.
Amber Rorrer, Adam's stay-at-home mom, said it's been nice having her son home with siblings Chloe and Rhyland, but it has put a damper on her usual schedule.
"Even with just one more child at home, that means one more child to feed, entertain and give individual attention to," Rorrer said.
"In school, he listens better," she said. "Now we're all cooped up, and it's getting stressful."
Staff writers Mary Hardbarger, Sarah Bruyn Jones, Jorge Valencia and Rex Bowman contributed to this report.
