Storm Dumps Record Snowfall
(Continued From Page 1-A)
done everything they can possibly
do."
Crediting cooperative customers
who responded to pleas to cut back
on energy use and the nature of the
storm, a BEMC spokesman said the
utility was grateful there were no
extended outages.
"It got crucial there for a while,"
said Gore. "It was bad. We had to
use our load management to keep
our peak down as much as we
could." BEMC has a voluntary load
management program in which par
ticipating customers allow the utili
ty to turn off or turn down their hot
water heaters in winter months for
brief periods or time to reduce the
amount of power consumed system
wide at any given time.
Gore said the biggest power out
age in the west end of the county
occurred in Bricrwood Estates as a
result of overloading. He noted that
there were also some recurring pro
blems in the Long Beach area.
Given the serious nature of the
storm. Gore said things could have
been much worse. "We were fortu
nate. The snow was powdery, not
the packing kind, so it was no prob -
lem for trees and power lines."
While the storm didn't causc any
major power outages in the county,
it did causc several motorists who
risked traveling to slide off the
roadway and forced others to aban
don their vehicles short of their des
tinations.
Owners of local tow truck com
panies contacted said they received
a lot of calls, but most were not
equipped with snow tires or four
wheel drive and had no way to get
traction in the heavy snow. Most
were waiting for some of the snow
to melt before tying to retrieve cars
that had run off the road.
Ronnie Babson of Ash, owner of
Babson's Auto Sales and Salvage,
said he had "right many calls" as a
result of the storm. He said Tuesday
there were "still a lot of people with
cars on the side of the road and in
the ditch wailing for the snow to
melt so we can get them out"
The poor travel conditions didn't
keep emergency units off the roads.
"It was terrible," said Calabash
EMS Chief Kathy Morfit. "We must
have had 10 calls in 36 hours."
Operating with the three people
who lived closest to the building,
the squad responded to calls ranging
from a broken wrist to a heart at
tack.
In addition to daytime calls, the
ambulance ran through the snow for
about four hours Saturday night
when the storm was at its worst and
was on the road again six hours
Sunday night.
"1 was up all Christmas Eve and
didn't see Santa Claus," said Mrs.
Morfit.
Snow and ice weren't the only
problems over the holiday weekend
as record low temperatures caused
water lines and water pumps across
the county to freeze or break.
Richard Lyons of Lyons Plumb
ing of Calabash said he made about
10 calls over the holiday weekend
responding to area residents with
frozen or broken water pipes and
frozen water pumps. He worked un
til 10:30 p.m. Christmas Eve and
was out working again Christmas
Day.
"Saturday was horrendous all day
long," said Lyons. "I got stuck in a
snow drift at Sunset Beach. It was
pretty bad."
While some area residents were
without water service, others across
the county were out of fuel or were
running low and feared the worst
with the recent cold temperatures.
Fuel suppliers, however, said Tues
day they've had the same problem
as everyone else trying to get
i
around the county on snow-covered
roads. Though cajls were plentiful,
Shallottc Ice & Fuel Co. kept its
trucks parked Tuesday because of
secondary road conditions, but ex
pected to roll them again Wednes
day, Mrs. T.D. Lindscy said.
Acme Oil Co. in Thomasboro
and R.D. White & Sons in Shallottc
were responding to as many calls as
possible, said their respective
spokespersons, Marie Long and
Kyle White.
"Lots of calls? That doesn't cv?. n
begin to describe it. It's been a
mess," said Marie Long of Acme
Oil. While trying to get to all cus
tomers as quickly as possible, she
said it was impossible to know who
needed fuel the most. "When the
weather changes this drastically,
fuel consumption goes up dramati
cally," she said, making delivery
records of little use.
Shallottc Town Clerk Mary Etta
Hcwctt also said the storm didn't
cause any "major catastrophes" in
town. She said there apparently
were a few water line breaks. With
DOT crews taking carc of U.S. 17,
she said town employees were try
ing to clear snow and ice from side
streets Tuesday.
Shirley Carroll, director of the
Brunswick County Volunteer and
Information Center, said staff and
volunteers distributed food baskets
last Wednesday and Thursday and
delivered cooked meals to the
homcbound Friday before the storm
hit. She said the food should have
lasted several days and that she
hadn't been notified of any prob
lems. "I think I would have gotten a
call at home if there had been an
emergency need."
Since the staff worked through a
vacation day last Friday, Mrs. Car
roll said the VIC officc would be
closed this Friday as well as New
Year's Day.
SWF PHOTO BY DOUG RUTTER
HOLDEN BEACH UTILITIES SUPERVISOR Henry Thompson plows more than a foot of snow olT
Ocean Boulevard Sunday afternoon.
Weekend Blizzard Is Called County's 'Benchmark Storm'
"Iliis past weekend's 17-inch
snowfall "could very well be the
all-time record snowfall for one
storm" in the Shallotlc area, said
Shallotte Point meteorologist Jack
son Canady.
"We had ourselves a perfect sce
nario for a perfect snowstorm,"
Canady said. 'This was a bench
mark storm to mark all other winter
storms by."
Besides bringing Brunswick
County its first white Christmas in
more than 100 years, the snowfall
Friday night through Sunday topped
a previous record of 1 1 inches set in
March 1980, Canady said. Other
significant snowfalls in recent years
were eight inches in February 1973
and five inches in January 1988.
The winter storm was accompa
nied by unseasonably frigid temper
aturcs. For the period of Dec. 19
through 25, the average daily tem
perature in the Shallottc area was 28
degrees, which Canady said was 20
degrees below normal.
The average daily low tempera
ture was 20 degrees, while the aver
age daily high temperature was 36
degrees. The minimum low temper
ature for the period was two degrees
on Dec. 25; the maximum high tem
perature was 52 degrees on Dec. 21 .
With winds gusting up to 30 mph
during the storm, snow drifted more
than three feet in some areas, and
the local wind-chill factor ranged
from zero to 10 degrees below zero,
Canady said.
Liquid precipitation totaled 2.5
inches, with 1.7 inches of that
amount coming from the weekend
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snowstorm.
Canady's local weather outlook
calls for temperatures to moderate
through the weekend, averaging
from the low 30s at night to the low
50s during the day. Precipitation
also should be near normal, with
about one-half inch of rain.
Although no winter storms arc
forecast for the "near future," Can
ady noted that harsh winters run in
cycles and that a trend is developing
toward a colder than normal season.
However, "it would be difficult to
say the rest of the winter is going to
be like this," he commented, "be
cause (the weekend storm) would
be hard to top."
nPL ?? . - STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG KUTTE*
HU(ih IIICLRS hang from the roof of the Shallotte Senior Center.
Developer Organizes Citizens
Group To Protest Septic Tank Fees
(Continued From Page 1-A)
Until the health board rccommcn
dations were approved with adop
tion of the county budget in late
June, the S20 site evaluation fees
were refunded on lots that were de
termined to be unsuitable for scptic
tanks. Rhodes has said that state
studies indicate that an individual
site evaluation costs the department
approximately SI 00, considering
the related time spent by sanitari
ans, secretaries and administrators.
Benton also wrote: "We would
also request that the Health Board
make available to the Tax Depart
ment information showing tlicsc
lots unsuitable for human habita
tion. Wc realize that the Health
Board has found a word that makes
our loLs suitable ? "provisionally
suitable" ? but yet the public docs
not know what to do with these
slips and most of the lime, when
they find out what to do with them,
the cost is so high it makes these
lots absolutely unsuitable
He added that the group feels that
the county should allow a 90-per
cent reduction in tax value on provi
sionally suitable lots, as the tax de
partment does with lots that arc de
termined to be unsuitable.
Patsy Elliott, head of the tax de
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VI milikm [xiifiir U be cunf/rt 01 a
partmcnt's land appraisal division,
said Friday that her office docs con
sider allowing the 90-pcrccnt reduc
tion on provisionally suitable lots, if
property owners can show that rec
ommended improvements would
not be feasible.
She also noted that it is the prop
erty owner's responsibility to con
tact the tax department about any
reduction that may be sought. If the
reduction is approved, it is applied
to the next annual lax billing, she
said.
Benton told the Beacon that he
views new sewage disposal rules
that go into cffect Jan. 1 to be
"more restrictive," due to new spacc
considerations on lots where fill
material is used to build up the lots.
Crowder estimated that septic
tanks on those lots probably will re
quire twice as must space under the
new rules, since fill will have to be
sloped more gradually on a 1:4 risc
to-run ratio. Also, more expensive
low-pressure septic systems arc re
quired on lots where fill material is
used.
Still, both Crowder and county
Soil Scientist Walter Marley specu
lated that the new regulations will
allow septic systems on many once
undevelopable lots ? especially can
al lots on the county's barrier is
lands ? since the use of fill will be
allowed.
"I would estimate that well over
50 percent of the canal lots will be
pcrmitable," Marley said, "but only
for (low-pressure) systems and pro
vided enough space is available."
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