Despite 18 inches of the white stuff, no weather-related deaths reported
Rock Hill got "slammed" like never before.
The worst snowstorm on record for a 24-hour period dumped 18 inches of snow Thursday and Friday, wiping out previous records.
The mammoth accumulation -- eight inches more than forecasters predicted -- fell fast and furious in stretches of as much as two inches an hour, closing schools, paralyzing transportation, backing up Interstate 77 and other major roads with massive traffic jams and pushing emergency crews to scramble to save lives.
"The weather people did say this storm could sit on us, and, man, it did," said Cotton Howell, York County emergency management director. "It was worse than expected, though, and it came faster, too. It fell in buckets, and we just got slammed."
Rock Hill received the most snow in the Southeast -- up to an inch more than Charlotte -- as the storm moved north though the Carolinas. The storm was worse than 1935 and 1902 storms that had better than 13 inches each.
The official weather service depth was recorded at 18 inches, but Fort Mill's Paul Basha -- president of York Electric Cooperative -- measured 19 inches in Fort Mill. S.C. Department of Transportation resident engineer Reuben Guy heard reports of 21 inches.
"We had spots where the snow was up to the guardrail," Guy said. "That's a couple of feet, probably."
Relief is in sight, though, because temperatures are expected to get into the 40s today and 50s Sunday.
Most of the snow stopped about daybreak Friday, but pockets of York County reported more snow falling at about 2 p.m. Yet through all the transportation problems, no weather-related deaths or serious injuries were reported, Howell said.
'So much so fast'
York and Chester counties activated emergency operations centers to handle emergency vehicle dispatch throughout Thursday night and Friday. Demand for emergency services was crippled by virtually impassable roads and hilly neighborhoods that were cut off. Critical-care calls that normally took 10 minutes for response took two hours or more, and non-life threatening calls were placed on a list that was more than eight hours long, Howell said.
Some motorists were stuck in traffic jams as long as five hours as road-clearing crews were hampered by wrecked and stranded cars blocking many roads. The snow fell so fast and so quickly that more than 30 DOT trucks could not keep up, Guy said.
"But if we had double the amount of trucks we would have been powerless," Guy said. "Never have I seen it like this, so much so fast."
Hundreds of motorists sat stranded along I-77 and other roads for as many as five hours. Emergency workers shuttled dozens of the stranded to motels.
DOT, with assistance from county and municipal crews, attacked main roads first, but hundreds of cars in the road or alongside roads posed safety risks and caused delays. DOT rushed crews from several other counties in the Midlands on Friday to York County to assist in the cleanup, Guy said.
Less snow in Chester, Lancaster
Forecasters predicted the storm could dump up to 10 inches of snow, but a combination of cold air and lift in the atmosphere sat right over Rock Hill, said National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Horne. The band wasn't that wide -- Chester County reported 8 to 10 inches of snow, while Lancaster County had 7 to 8 inches.
Some buildings had collapsed roofs from the weight of the snow. Two aluminum storage buildings near the Rock Hill/York County Airport collapsed, knocking out power to about 1,500 customers for about three hours, according to city of Rock Hill officials.
Rock Hill City Councilman John Gettys, who demanded better communication and response between agencies and for the public after the December 2002 ice storm knocked out power to about 70,000 people in York County, said revamped plans worked much better during this storm.
"I am very pleased and hope the people of the city are, too," Gettys said.
Duke Power had about 170 customers lose power but those were due to wrecks that knocked down lines, spokesperson Rose Cummings said. York Electric had a few outages but no major problems, Basha said.
Contact Andrew Dys at 329-4065 or adys@heraldonline.com.
