Storm reached hurricane force winds

CULLODEN, W.Va. — The winds from Tuesday afternoon’s storm which struck hard at the Putnam/Cabell County line had gusts which topped 80 miles an hour. The strength of those winds is the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane. The power of the storm was reflected in the damage left behind.

“There were probably 20 some calls in the Hurricane area where there were trees and power lines down on the road,” said Frank Chapman, Director of the Putnam County Office of Emergency Services. “We had to get people in to get the roads open and to get the power company in to do what they needed to do.”

According to Phil Moye at Appalachian Power, they had plenty to do and it was time consuming work because of the severity of the damage.

“We had about 75 or so places where we had to go fix something to get the power back on,” he said. “We’re making great headway and should have everything back on by later tonight.”

At the height of the storm, more than 9,000 were out of power across Putnam, Cabell, Kanawha, and Wayne Counties from the same storm system.  Many in the area spent the night in the dark with homes surrounded by uprooted trees and downed limbs. Leaves and sticks littered the ground and roadways. As he assessed the situation, Chapman said it could have been much worse.

“We’re fortunate we didn’t get as big an impact as if when it started,” said Chapman. “If it would have stayed at that wind speed we could have had some major issues all the way into Teays Valley. It kind of died out in the Hurricane area and didn’t make it to Teays Valley and Scott Depot where it’s way more populated.”

Although there were a few trees which fell onto homes in both Putnam and Cabell Counties, there were no reports of any injuries and according to Chapman, damage was fairly minor even in those situations.





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