Gov. Jim Justice has declared a State of Emergency for all 55 West Virginia counties due to the winter storm hitting West Virginia.
"Our top priority is safety, and we're doing everything we can to stay ahead of the storm," Justice said. "State agencies are on high alert, and we'll continue to monitor the situation closely. I ask all West Virginians to stay alert, follow any instructions from emergency officials, and take necessary precautions. The next few days may bring challenges, so let's all take care of each other."
The West Virginia National Guard was strategically staging personnel and equipment at armories across the state in preparation for potential response needs while the West Virginia Division of Highways was proactively addressing weather-related challenges, working to ensure roadways stayed passable.
The public is being urged to use caution when traveling on snow or ice covered roads.
The National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va. posted a winter weather advisory Monday afternoon which is set to end at 9 a.m. today. Up to 2 inches of snow are expected with wind gusts up to 45 mph. Black ice was expected to form on roadways overnight, making roads, bridges and overpasses slick and hazardous today. Significant ice accumulation on power lines and trees was possible as well, leading to other power outages,
Appalachian Power crews were dealing with thousands of outages Monday morning. According to the power company, around 99,544 customers across its service area were without electricity. Mercer County had 10,697 outages around 9:30 a.m., followed by Raleigh County with 5,379. McDowell County was showing about 820 outages that same time and Monroe County had 903.
Around 3 p.m., Appalachian Power estimated that power would be restored in Mercer County, McDowell County and Tazewell County, Va. by 11 p.m. Wednesday.
By Sunday evening, Appalachian Power's Storm Response Team had mobilized 700 additional line and support contractors, with another 250 on standby to join its workforce, said Debra L. Pannell, communications consultant for the power company. The winter storm covered much of the company's southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia service areas with snow, sleet and up to half an inch of ice.
In a major power outage, priority is given to restoring circuits that deliver electricity to essential public safety facilities such as hospitals, 911 call centers, water treatment plants, and police and fire stations, Pannell said. Appalachian Power will perform repairs to restore electric service to the largest pockets of customers in the shortest amount of time. Sometimes, a single repair can restore service to hundreds or thousands of customers. Appalachian Power will then move on to repair portions of circuits that restore service to smaller pockets of customers. These repairs may restore service to dozens of customers when completed.
In the final phase, power is restored to individual homes and businesses, according to power company officials. This phase of the restoration process can be time-consuming after a significant storm because there are so many of these kinds of repairs.
Pannell said early Monday afternoon that the power company did not have restoration times yet.
"We have assessors in the field examining the damage," she told the Bluefield Daily Telegraph. "As soon as the estimated restoration times are available, customers will be able to view them at AppalachianPower.com."
Keith Gunnoe, director of the Mercer County Office of Emergency Management, said after speaking with the power company that there was no definite timeframe for restoring power to all of the county.
Crews were working very diligently to restore power, he said.
"We could be looking at power outages for a couple of days," Gunnoe said.
Saw crews with the West Virginia Department of Highways and the West Virginia Division of Forestry were clearing away fallen trees that were blocking roadways. Up to 2 inches of additional snow were possible Monday afternoon, so state road crews were pretreating roadways before it arrived, Gunnoe said.
Temperatures were expected to keep dropping throughout the week. Temperatures as low as 7 degrees by Thursday evening were expected.
In Bluefield, the Bluefield Union Mission was aiding people seeking shelter from the cold. Executive Director Craig Hammond said as of 10:55 a.m. Monday about 14 people arrived to get warm. The mission was also getting requests for kerosene as well as blankets, winter clothings, gloves and hats.
"Everything's going fine here," Hammond said. "It's not overwhelming but it's steady."
The winter weather was making driving hazardous on both highways and secondary roads. In Southwest Virginia, the Virginia State Police had investigated 85 crashes with injuries reported in three of them, according to Matthew Demlein, public relations coordinator with the state police.
In Mercer County, many calls received Monday morning concerned fallen trees and other problems related to the winter storm, according to a dispatcher.
© 2025 the Bluefield Daily Telegraph (Bluefield, W.Va.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
