BLACKSBURG, Va. – Winter weather has hit our region with bitter temperatures and high wind.
I talked to Appalachian Power leaders on how they prepare for this weather.
“We’re always keeping track of certain weather incidents that can cause outages, and wind is one of them,” said George Porter with Appalachian Power.
Porter said with the high wind gusts, it can cause sporadic power outages, but until the wind slows down, they can’t get crews up to fix the lines.
“We usually like it at about 35 miles an hour before we start putting those men and women in those bucket trucks,” Porter said.
He also said the impacts of Helene in our region also is playing a factor.
“Where some of those trees might not have fell during the hurricane, they might have tipped them over,” said Porter. “They may be leaning on other trees. Continuous wind gusts, continuous hard weather events can make those trees that didn’t fall during the hurricane go ahead and fall this weekend.”
Miranda Jones with the Blacksburg Volunteer Rescue Squad said while it may seem simple, it’s important to double check you have everything you need for an extended power outage.
“One thing is knowing that winter storms can last anywhere from hours to days,” said Jones. “Don’t use your stove or have your generator inside your house. It gives off a lot of carbon monoxide and we see a lot of carbon monoxide poisonings in the winter because people try to keep their house [warm] with their stoves or other things.”
It’s also important to have a similar emergency box in case something was to happen on the road.
“You want to have jumper cables, extra blankets, water, flashlights stuff like that,” Jones said.
She said while you may not need it every time, it’s better to be prepared and not need it, then to need it and not have it.