BY JOHN CONLEY

Associate Editor

A massive storm dumped 18 inches of snow on Wyoming County last Fri-day, leaving thousands in the dark and prompting many to seek help at shelters.

Gov. Joe Manchin de-clared a state of emergency on Saturday.

"We were pretty well prepared," said Wyoming County Emergency Ser-vices Director Dean Mea-dows, "but the thing that really shocked us was within an hour we saw four or five inches of snow (late Friday afternoon) because it affected people who were traveling."

Snow began falling be-fore 3 p.m. on Friday and started piling up less than hour later.

Power outages were widespread by early Saturday. "During the worst part of this, we had two thirds of the county without power," Meadows said.

That number stood at 7,300 on Monday, according to AEP.

Among the communities without power at some point were Pineville, Hern-don, Basin, Hanover, Math-eny, Rockview, Kopper-ston, Brenton and Cyclone, Meadows indicated.

Residents in some isolated areas may not have electricity until Thursday, he indicated.

"It's going to be an issue for a few more days because of the challenge of getting (to these areas)," said Meadows.

The fast rising snow led to "more abandoned vehicles than I've seen in ten years," Meadows remarked. Vehicles could still be seen along highways and, on Huff Mountain, in the highway as late as Monday.

Shelters were set up at the Mullens Penetecostal Church of God and at Glen Fork Elementary and Middle School.

There were still 31 people staying in shelters on Monday. As many as 200 meals per day are being served at Glen Fork, Meadows reported.

Schools were closed on Monday and Tuesday. The Christmas break was slated to begin today (Wednesday).

Classes were not slated on Tuesday, but it was an ISE day for employees.

An estimated 10-15 members of the National Guard, along with representatives of the Division of Natural Resources and the Division of Environmental Protection conducted health and welfare checks on residents, Meadows said.

Supplies were also delivered, but propane and kerosene have been in short supply.

"We haven't been able to get as much as we needed because of the shortage (statewide)," remarked Meadows.

A boil water order was in effect in Oceana early this week.

Water was also a problem for the Ravencliff-McGraws-Saulsville PSD as gravity "ran its course," said Meadows.

A challenge for the 911 Center was the storm's impact on radio towers. "They all lost power and were on battery backup," Meadows stated.

Lambert Mountain eventually went out together, but usage of the York Mountain and Burning Rock towers was sustained by limiting their use to police, ambulance and fire departments.

The storm is the biggest to hit the area since 1998. "In that storm we dealt with 16 below (zero) temperatures, and that made it a bigger challenge," Meadows commented.

“We had a lot of ice hanging off trees and off power lines.”