By Stephen Smoot
Prior to the onset of the winter storm that poured an expected largesse of snow, but an unexpected one of sleet, the West Virginia Department of Transportation deployed more than 1,000 snowplows to push back on roadway accumulations.
Threats from unpredictable, rapidly changing weather affect everyone. Prior to the storm’s onset, Stephen Todd Rumbaugh, West Virginia Secretary of Transportation, shared through a news release that “our crews have been out around the clock plowing and treating roads, and they will continue working through the night.” He reminded all that “when temperatures drop as quickly as expected, road conditions can become dangerous in a matter of minutes.”
What did not receive mention prior to the storm was what forecasters could not have anticipated: a massive layer of warm air sandwiched between two cold layers. That brought heavy, dense sleet along with the snow and bitterly cold temperatures.
Some main highways were partially or fully blocked by piles of sleet, consisting of trillions of tiny ice spheres. In the conditions last weekend, the sleet, snow, and ice on mountainsides became as stable as a pile of ball bearings. Massive amounts of sleet flowed almost like water down mountainsides. Many of the most traveled roads in the county were impassable.
And then there was Smoke Hole Canyon. Videos of efforts to relieve the area and restore access bewildered viewers from around the state and across the country. Heavy equipment burrowed slowly through 10 to 15 feet or more of consistent coverage over the top of the roadway.
“Those folks down there, they can survive,” shared Mike Alt, training officer for Pendleton County Emergency Rescue and proprietor of Shreve’s Country Store in the middle of the tourist areas. “They’ve done this all their life,” he further noted.
He said of the sleet, “My concern is that we’ve not seen this sleet. We’ve seen snow, but not sleet like this.” Alt explained that he feared the effect if long lines of sleet extending up mountainsides start to melt at the base and cause more problems.
While the ambulance service was quiet during the storm, Alt predicted that calls would increase as people ventured onto the ice and started to clean up. Another problem from the unusual amount of sleet lay in ice layers that seemed firm to walk on, then gave way, with the potential to cause injury.
Motorists should become aware that the Department of Highways does not give all roads the same level of priority during a storm. They divide state roadways into four categories:
•Priority 1 routes include interstate, expressway, National Highway System, and all other United States and West Virginia routes. Some Priority 1 routes also include high-traffic county routes.
•Priority 2 routes are all other school bus routes that are not considered Priority 1.
•Priority 3 routes are the remaining routes, not including park and forest routes.
•Priority 4 routes are park and forest routes.
Pendleton County OEM and first response organizations strongly urge everyone to avoid the Priority 4 routes, as many never receive treatment prior to or after a storm. Many have found themselves in danger during the years trying to experience a snowstorm on Spruce Knob or other high-elevation tourist attractions.
Officials lauded the work of DoH workers. “I can’t praise them enough for what they were able to do with the number of personnel and equipment they had to do it with,” said Rick Gillespie, Pendleton County emergency services coordinator, about the effort.
To handle the buildup of ice from the accumulation of dense and heavy sleet, the DoH had to turn to heavy equipment, including graders. “We have four-wheel-drive graders and six-wheel-drive graders,” stated Nathan Thomas, WVDOH deputy state highway engineer in charge of operations, in a release. “You put chains on an all-wheel grader, and it will go anywhere.”
“When you see us out, please give us plenty of room to work,” shared a DoT Facebook post about their work. In the more rugged areas of the West Virginia mountains, graders and other heavy equipment had to remove between two and three feet in some areas and 10 to 15 feet in others of avalanches of sleet that tumbled down mountainsides and blocked, or even covered, roadways.
Concerns locally, however, center around the age of the heavy equipment deployed to the worst areas. Preston County used a grader purchased in the late 1970s, but Alt shared that he saw equipment “that is as old as I am” required to do extensive work.
Gillespie stated, “It would be nice to see the Franklin garage receive a new grader. The two assigned to Franklin ‘are tired’ and one of them broke down during the height of the battle.”
As the plow drivers drive through the whiteouts and the darkness, sometimes they get a few minutes to take a break. While looking for messages from family left at home or checking the news, sometimes drivers get to see unfortunate social media posts blasting their efforts.
Robert Hudson, an assistant county administrator for highways, shared that “you know, our guys do take a sense of pride in their job. This is what they do. This is what they love to do for the community that they serve.”
“They do look at social media,” Hudson noted, adding that “they do see some of the disparaging comments, and in fact it does bother them, but I can say, without a doubt, that every day they do the best that they can for the community.”
“I know everyone wants their roads opened immediately,” stated Gillespie, who went on to state that “it does take time. So few folks cannot be everywhere at once. They really put their hearts and souls into it and did an outstanding job.”
A number of individuals suggested in different arenas that the West Virginia National Guard could have supplemented efforts in a number of fields. If the federal government cannot assume the full tab for deployment into service, the costs fall back on the state. Gillespie explained that “if a county government requests National Guard assistance, the county will likely receive charges for these services. Our world of county EMs has been cautioned for quite some time to be careful about what you request, as the county will be on the string for the charges.”
President Donald Trump, at the request of Governor Patrick Morrisey, declared a disaster for the state, which will free up additional assistance.
