Overnight Winds Leave Hundreds in Bridgeport without Power; Trees Down Throughout Area
By Julie Perine on March 02, 2018 via Connect-Bridgeport.com
Due to powerful overnight winds, 776 FirstEnergy customers in Harrison County were without power this morning; 381 of those customers in Bridgeport, where winds were clocked at just over 50 miles per hour.
Starting at about 8 p.m. Thursday, reports came in of trees down throughout Harrison County; locally on Corbin Branch Road, Meadland, Brushy Fork and even Main Street, where a portion of a tree fell on South Virginia Avenue, just across from the post office.
It was around 8 p.m. Thursday when the tree came down, temporarily blocking Virginia Avenue, said Bridgeport Fire Chief Phil Hart. His crew cut up and removed the tree, reopening the road in about 10 minutes. A portion of the tree remained in the area this morning and it appears that a portion of the fencing on the property is damaged.
“Right when the winds came through, we got that call, one on Corbin Branch and a fire alarm on Barrington Court,” Hart said.
The fire alarm was uneventful and was likely tripped due to temporary power outage.
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Spokesman for Mon Power/FirstEnergy, Todd Meyers said the power company was expecting the influx of outages and was prepared.
“Our Mon Power area expects impacts, particularly east of I-79 where winds are expected to gust 50-plus miles per hour, maybe even approaching 60 mph in mountainous terrain here and there,” he said Thursday.
As forecasts indicated less wind to the west, a plan was put into place for line crews in the Parkersburg region to come in first thing this morning packed and ready to work straight through the weekend, wherever needed.
“Our Mon Power crews will also be assisting in the job to get the lights back on as quickly as safety permits by contractors doing work on our system,” Meyers said. “Everyone works 16 hours on, eight off — staggered so there are people working round the clock — until our last customer has their power restored.”
Wet heavy snow plastered to trees and electric wires was expected to complicate things. Meyers said Mon Power/FirstEnergy planned for the worst.
As for today’s forecast, the National Weather Service out of Charleston reports a chance of snow showers, mixing with rain after 11 a.m., then gradually ending. Temperatures will reach 40 degrees and northwest winds will be around 18 miles per hour, with gusts as high as 32 miles per hour. Tonight will be partly cloudy, with lows around 24 degrees and northwest winds eight to 15 miles per hour; gusts up to 28 miles per hour.
Editor's Note: Photo shows remnants of a tree which fell along Virginia Avenue Thursday evening when winds - up to 50 miles per hour - came through the area. Photo is courtesy of Don Burton.
