City, AEP well prepared when ice storm arrived Feb. 1

ThisWeek UA 2/9/2011

http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/upperarlington/stories/2011/02/09/city-aep-well-prepared-when-ice-storm-arrived-feb–1.html?sid=104

    

The power is back on, but the cleanup continues, following last week’s ice storm.

AEP Ohio spokesperson Vikki Michalski said, “During storm situations, AEP does not clear debris from customers’ yards in order to allow work crews to restore power more rapidly.”

According to AEP’s website, at the height of last Tuesday’s storm, more than 181,444 Central Ohio customers were without service. The company brought in extra resources, and by Thursday afternoon, nearly all Upper Arlington residents had power restored.

Resident Pete Cline said that he and his Herrick Road neighbors hunkered down with generators and fireplaces after losing power around 8 p.m. Tuesday night.

“We saw candles glowing from everyone’s houses; it was like we were living in a different time.”

Upper Arlington Fire Department spokesperson Dan Kochensparger said the ice made it necessary to bring a fourth team member on medic runs to provide better safety while carrying patients.

Kochensparger said there were 58 storm-related calls, including two mutual-aid calls given to Columbus in response to structure fires, one of which was caused by a burning candle.

“Everything related to the storm is on top of the normal work load, so we really depend on the mutual-aid because we’re a small department,” Kochensparger said. “No matter how much you prepare for a situation like this, it will still stress the system.”

The city met Monday before the storm to coordinate its resources; including the shifting of some parks and recreation staff to help the forestry workers clear debris during and after the storm, said Deputy City Manager for Community Affairs Emma Speight.

“[Assistant City Manager] Joe [Valentino] got all the department heads together before the storm to make sure the plans were in place to make this situation go as smoothly as possible. It was very much a team effort,” Speight said.

The city began spreading brine and salt just prior to the storm to keep the streets passable for residents.

Due to the severity, the storm caused city salt resources to dwindle, Speight said.

“We are nearing the end of our salt supply, so if winter brings more storms, we will have to buy more; we have that option but we don’t yet know what that additional cost looks like,” said Speight.

While salt and debris clearing were key functions during an event like last week’s, Speight said other city resources were useful as well.

“When we realized how many residents were without power, we opened up our Senior Center as a shelter until the Red Cross was able to get its regional shelter open.”

Upper Arlington Public Library spokesperson Ruth McNeil said that residents without power were also camping out at the library.

Catherine Cline, Pete Cline’s wife, was one of the people camped out there, she said, “The power was off at home and work so my daughter and I had breakfast at Panera and then went to the library where we could check e-mail and play.”

Cline was thankful to have power restored on Thursday, and appreciates that her family can now restock their firewood with the fallen tree debris.

Residents are asked to contact the city’s forestry division at 583-5340 about tree debris in the public right-of-way. Any debris on private property can be taken to the SWACO Regional Composting Facility on Roberts Road or follow the yard waste guidelines on the city website, uaoh.net.