SHAWSVILLE, Va. – Ice hit the New River Valley hard causing widespread power outages.
“The ice has caused some challenges with accumulations on trees, powerlines, several electrical hazards and a whole lot of power outages in this area,” said Michael Geary, chief of Montgomery County Fire and EMS.
In the Shawsville area of Montgomery County, over 90% of homes were without power.
“As of yesterday, we had about 2,000 residents down here in East Mont[gomery] that were without power,” said Geary. “That’s almost all of Eastern Montgomery without power. Crews are definitely out working really hard, so hopefully this community is not without power very much longer.”
To help folks who may need to warm up and charge their devices, Montgomery County opened a Warming Center at the Community Center in Shawsville to help with anything people may need.
“We are at the Meadowbrook Library building,” said Amber Whitlock with the Montgomery County Department of Social Services. “It is a warming center for those in East Mont[gomery] that don’t have power right now, that need to come in, warm up, and charge their devices. There’s also a little kitchenette here if they have food they want to bring and heat up as well.”
I talked to two workers with Montgomery County Social Services and said on Monday they saw a lot of people coming in to get warm.
“We want them to feel supported,” said Whitlock. “Make them feel if they can’t be in their home right now because of how cold it is that they have a safe welcoming place for them.”
They say they will be here as long as they are needed.
Appalachian Power spokespeople say they plan to have all outages fixed by January 9th.