ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – The heavy snowfall and freezing rain have slowed down, and the bulk of it should be behind us, but its effects certainly aren’t.
A lot of the roads remain slick with ice and snow, and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) urges anyone who doesn’t have to drive, not to drive. Road conditions, especially on the secondary roads, remain untreated.
“Freezing rain and ice are a worst-case scenario for us,” Jason Bond, the communications manager for VDOT’s Salem district, said. “Not only do they pose challenges for drivers because ice is extremely hazardous to drive on and people don’t always see icy road conditions, but they are a challenge for us as well because we can’t plow ice.”
Law enforcement echoes that statement.
“Unless you absolutely have to be on the roads, it’s better for you to be off the roads,” Matthew Demlein, the Public Relations Coordinator for Virginia State Police (VSP), said. “It allows plows to have more space and it allows for fewer crashes.”
VDOT has prioritized cleaning up the main roads and interstates from ice and snow, and while it does that, people at home can focus on cleaning their cars.
Demlein said it’s important to clean off the cars completely.
“Make sure you get all of the snow off your car, including the top,” he said. “If you’re driving and even if you’ve got your windshield cleared and all your mirrors cleared and everything like that, if you have snow on top, that could come off the car as you’re driving and hit the car behind you.”
As for power outages, Appalachian Power expects those numbers to climb as ice continues to weaken tree branches.
If anyone does lose power, Appalachian Power encourages them to remain patient and stay up to date with alerts.
“This is going to probably be a couple of day restoration effort,” George Porter, Appalachian Power’s director of communications said. “We need customers to download our outage app, follow us for alerts and stay in tune with us on social media.”
According to Appalachian Power, it has almost 500 personnel working on restoring power.