As you have probably heard by
now, Alderson had a severe wind storm just in time for the 4th July
celebration. Most activities were canceled because of no power.
Fortunately the parade went on because of human power, horse power,
and "horse" power. No batteries needed.
The following are emails that
give a good description of what they observed.
“I actually saw the GRIC
with my own eyes on Saturday, June 30 , 2012. At
least all I could see from the outside, peeking
into the windows, for it was locked up tight as
nearly everything else was in Alderson, WV, 12
hours after the" wind storm" went through. Trees
down, power out, roads blocked about 9 p.m.
Friday. Lots of chain saw work, neighbor helping
neighbor, one lane roads and despair as the deep
freezers melted and the 2012 Homecoming Banquet
became a dream deferred.
After
a dark, quiet, warm Friday night at the Holiday Inn
in Lewisburg my caregiver/companion and I, on
Saturday morning, drove very carefully down the
river to Alderson. Many places were one lane but the
chain saw crew had opened the entire road from
Alderson to Ronceverte. AHS school girls were taking
down all the wonderful decorations in the
auditorium, folding up the paper table cloth,
getting the area ready to be used for emergency
housing for Greenbrier Campers if they lost all
their tents or for others needing emergency shelter.
There was palpable disappointment all over
town--there would be no Homecoming--yet, at the same
time enormous relief that there were no injuries and
the losses were mostly trees, a few shingles and
road signs. But everyone worried about the water
dropping in the reservoir tank and no electricity
for the pumps and all the banquet food was going to
spoil and when would the telephones begin to work
again. The baking contest went on as scheduled
because several bakers had completed their entries
BEFORE the power went out and Saturday they shared
their entries with the two visitors from Ohio. -
Mary Margaret Steele Morgan, AHS '42”
"My power got turned
on this afternoon but it is not on in other parts of
Alderson. We had the 4th of July parade today and it was a
great morale booster. Trees down and sidewalks uprooted.
Looks like Fl. after a hurricane and the info we are
hearing, was the winds were 60-70 miles. No confirmation on
that but if you look at the mountains on the Monroe side it
looks like a hurricane or a tornado hit. The fire station is
giving away water and emergency MRI kits. They brought in a
water truck on Sat. which is behind the Methodist church. It
has been terrible but as always people stop and check on
you. Water was cut off for about 24 hours but they brought
in a generator and we have had non-drinking water since
then.
The stores have been open for bread and non-perishable items
and neighbors have been cooking on grills and inviting
friends and family to come by. As always, Alderson will
rebound. The financial loss to the business and the 4th of
July Committee will be huge, so if anyone can help, now is
the time. Hoping everyone is well and the next 4th will be
bigger and better. Will try to keep you updated." - Marjory
Sweetwood
"WE just got power
at 4:30 a.m. (7-4-2012) this morning at my house. Most of
Alderson is still without. I have photos of the storm and
the parade today which I will upload this afternoon if I
can. THe best story here is how the neighbors took care of
each other. There is less real house damage than you might
imagine. Just from my roaming around, I think about 10
houses suffered real damage and even then, perhaps only 1
trailer is uninhabitable. We were blessed.
Here are some photos from the storm. They were taken on
Saturday morning before much cleanup. I did not get
everywhere. The mountain side on the Monroe side looked like
it had been given a bad hair cut or as Reverend Lanny Howe
said, "Like God had gotten on a lawn mower, set it at 50
feet, and taken a ride." Not all the trees are sheared--just
in wide swaths. True Value lost its sign. I put in the photo
of the large Alderson sign at the bank to illustrate how
many branches covered the ground in some places.
I think most of Alderson may have power now. At least a
couple of power poles were sheared off so those houses
served by them will take longer. We are grateful not to have
been without water except for a few hours. Neighbors have
been great to help each other.
I agree with Paul Bland that the July 4th Celebration will
have lost a lot of money this year. I support his suggestion
to send donations to the Committee. This event is not funded
by the town. It gets a little grant support but makes most
of its money from the sale of rubber ducky tickets and maybe
a little from events. They will need our help to fund the
event for next year.
All in all, we were blessed." - Margaret Hambrick
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