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Icy conditions make travel difficult on Mid-Ohio Valley roads

By Michelle Dillon 5 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Snow fell Thursday night into Friday morning, but it didn't stop people from traveling the roads in West Virginia and Ohio on Friday.

A tractor trailer ended up on its side around 10:30 a.m. Friday on U.S. 50 near mile marker 11, according to a Wood County 911 Dispatch supervisor.

A call came in about the tractor trailer at 10:32 a.m. It was going too fast for the conditions and went in the passing lane, which wasn't cleared off yet. The accident closed down both westbound lanes of U.S. 50 for about an hour.

The tractor trailer driver had minor injuries and was transported to Camden Clark Medical Center, officials said.

Wood County 911 handled a total of 13 accidents between midnight and about 2 p.m. Friday. None of the accidents resulted in serious injuries, the supervisor said.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office handled three different accidents, according to a dispatcher.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol handles most accidents but the Sheriff's Office helps when they are backed up. The three accidents resulted in no major injuries, just property damage, the dispatcher said.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol post in Marietta handled numerous accidents on Friday, according to a dispatcher, although none of the accidents were serious.

Marietta Police had not handled any accidents as of around 1:30 p.m. Friday, while Belpre Police handled several minor accidents Friday, officials said.

Despite the accidents and road conditions Friday, people were still able to shop. The Hometown Piggly Wiggly in Vienna on 23rd Street was visited by customers Friday.

"It's slowed down considerably. Overall we're starting to get a steady flow now that the roads are taken care off," Piggly Wiggly Manager Jeremy Fellure said about customers,

The store had fewer customers on Friday than it did on Thursday, he said.

"Yesterday was a madhouse," Fellure said about the number of people shopping on Thursday.

Shoppers in Marietta were active on Friday, too.

The number of customers at the Kroger in Marietta on Acme Street was lower than usual, Kroger Manager Joe Sereno said. There were more customers in the store on Thursday than on Friday, according to Sereno.

"There's more than I thought (there would be) but it's pretty slow. They all came yesterday," he said.

Some residents had to deal with power outages on Friday.

According to the AEP Ohio Outage Map,there was an outage affecting 93 customers near the intersection of Moody Ridge Road and Short Brook Rd in Vincent on Friday. The map showed the outage started at 11:17 a.m. and that power was expected to be restored by 2:30 p.m. Friday.

The map also showed an outage affecting less than five people near the intersection of State Route 550 and State Route 690 near Amesville in Athens County. The map showed the outage started at 9:04 a.m. and was expected to be restored by 12:30 p.m.

Neither outage was resolved as of 2:40 p.m. when the map was checked.

Customers can keep track of AEP power outages in Ohio at https://www.aepohio.com/outages/status.

First Energy Corporation's website showed 26 customers in Auburn in Ritchie County without power on Friday. The estimated time of restoration was listed as 5:30 p.m.

The First Energy outage map showed one outage affecting one to 20 customers near Drain Road in Minerals Wells. The power was estimated to be restored at 2:30 p.m. When the map was checked at 2:20 the power outage was no longer showing.

Customers can track First Energy power outages in West Virginia at http://tinyurl.com/5bs3eap3.

Anyone who's electricity was out in the area on Friday or anyone else who wanted to stay warm could visit warming shelters open in the area. Belpre Volunteer Fire Department's warming center at the Belpre Bingo Hall was open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.

They had not had anyone show up yet to get warm on Thursday or as of 11 a.m. on Friday, according to a volunteer at the Bingo Hall.

St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Parkersburg was open 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Friday.

"We had three people show up (Thursday) and we've had about four or five today (as of 11 a.m.)," church member Missy Plumly said about the warning center at the church.

"We have a sign out front now, I think that's why we got a few more people,"

Latrobe Street Mission in Parkersburg was open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. as a warming center on Friday. Just a few people had showed up Thursday and Friday to get warm, volunteer Kath Strickmaker said. Anyone is welcome to come to the warming center at the mission, she said.

The local area has not seen the last of the snow and cold.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning that will stay in effect until 10 a.m. Saturday for portions of southeast Ohio and central, northern, and southern West Virginia.

The warning is for Wood, Pleasants, Jackson, Ritchie, Roane, Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Tyler, Kanawha, Lewis, Boone, Lincoln, Logan, Mingo, Putnam, Wirt, and Wyoming counties in West Virginia and Washington and Morgan counties in Ohio.

The National Weather Service released a forecast for the Mid-Ohio Valley and Central Appalachians for the coming days. The low pressure system that impacted the area with significant snow accumulations overnight Thursday into Friday exited the southwest on Friday. An upper level disturbance will keep snow showers going Friday afternoon and evening, the National Weather Service said.

Another Arctic blast will bring frigid weather Friday night and through the weekend. Snow showers will continue across portions of the lowlands and in the mountains. Dangerous wind chills are likely over the weekend.

According to the National Weather Service, a thaw is expected next week and waves of low pressure will bring rain at times beginning in the middle of next week.

Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com</em>

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