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Ice storm pounds state
Frozen roads shut down local schools, offices
January 27, 2004
By
MISTY EBEL
and WALLACE McBRIDE
Index-Journal staff writers
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A motorist keeps a distance from the scene of a multi-car wreck on S.C. 72, one of hundreds of local traffic collisions caused by Monday’s ice storm.
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A sheet of ice covering Greenwood and the Lakelands and much of the rest of the state Monday froze both roads and many aspects of daily life, with schools, many government offices and some businesses shutting down.
Schools and county government offices in Greenwood, Abbeville, Saluda and McCormick counties were all closed. With more freezing rain in the forecast Monday night, some schools are closed again today.
Lander University students Shayla Pope, Adrienne Brown and Star Anderson braved the cold to go to the school’s cafeteria for lunch, even though the college was closed for classes.
Although the students said they had not been out driving Monday, they did get out to get something to eat.
Brown said the roads were icy Sunday night as she was leaving work at Zaxby’s.
“A sheet of ice kept forming on my windshield,” she said.
Greenwood District 50, Abbeville, McCormick, Ninety Six, Saluda and Ware Shoals schools and Cambridge Academy opted late Monday afternoon to close schools today. Piedmont Tech shut down day classes today. Local radio and TV stations will carry updates on school schedules.
Greenwood County Manager Jim Kier said the county hopes to keep offices open Tuesday. Abbeville County Director Doug Burns said a decision about opening offices would be made this morning.
Officials in Saluda and McCormick counties could not be reached.
City of Greenwood offices were closed Monday. The city council meeting scheduled for Monday night was canceled. It is rescheduled for 5:30 p.m. Feb. 2.
Also, the city’s residential and commercial garbage collection was canceled Monday. Residents scheduled to receive garbage service Monday were asked to leave their green carts at the street so collection can be made during the upcoming week, according to a statement issued by the city.
The city will continue to monitor weather conditions to determine whether to run garbage collections today.
Greenwood Mall closed Monday, and a message at the mall’s phone number urged merchants to check on today’s schedule by 8:30 a.m.
The storm system responsible for crystallizing much of the Southeast has moved slower than expected, bringing more precipitation, National Weather Service meteorologist Jonathan Lamb said.
Greenwood and the Lakelands were expected to get about 1/8-inch more freezing rain Monday night, Lamb said. Temperatures were expected in the upper 20s.
There is a 30 percent chance of rain or freezing rain early in the day today. By afternoon, the system should be moving out, with partly cloudy skies and temperatures reaching the upper 30s.
Monday’s storm caused some local industries to make last-minute scheduling changes for workers.
Fuji canceled Monday’s night shift, with today’s day shift slated to come in at noon.
Solutia, though, had to keep things running as though it were an ordinary workday.
“Most of our employees know they need to be here,” said Jack Montgomery, human resources manager for Solutia, which had no shift cancellations.
The plant runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so a shift cancellation could set back operations for weeks, he said.
“Of the 400 employees scheduled to work today, only about 20 were out,” he said. “We haven’t had to cancel anything, which is pretty remarkable considering how bad the roads were.”
While students and many others got the day off, some workers, such as emergency, road maintenance and utility company personnel, were kept extra busy responding to wrecks and power outages.
By 2 p.m., Greenwood police officers Curtis Burton and Donald Livernois had responded to a half-dozen calls, ranging from downed power lines to traffic collisions.
“Everybody’s tied up on something right now,” Burton said. Even detectives were mobilized to deal with the crisis, he said.
Abbeville and McCormick city offices both remained open.
“We have a skeleton crew Monday,” said Fran Strickland finance director for the city of Abbeville.
Strickland said the office might close early in the afternoon, depending on the weather.
Many of the offices within McCormick were closed, but in the city, workers continued with their daily routines, said town clerk Sandra McKinney.
Staff writer Shavonne Potts contributed to this article.
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