Residents flock to hotels after losing power; more snow in forecast

Danville’s hotels — many at capacity as out-of-towners fled power outages caused by the weekend’s winter storm — began to empty Monday as utility companies restored power in Henry and Pittsylvania counties amid another winter weather advisory that was issued for Southside.

The National Weather Service issued the advisory, which lasts from 5 a.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. Wednesday. Snow is expected to begin falling Tuesday morning and will mix with sleet Tuesday afternoon. Forecasters expect between 2 and 4 inches of snow and sleet.

Vicki Barber, general manager of Courtyard Danville, said her hotel filled Saturday night.

“We did see a spike,” Barber said. “We had a major influx from Martinsville because of the icy situation and the electricity.”

The Holiday Inn Express on Riverside Drive also filled Saturday night, said Teresa Webb, the hotel’s general manager. She said most of her guests came from Axton and Pittsylvania County, where the weekend’s storm also knocked out power.

Barber and Webb said most guests had checked out by Monday.

Danville’s Division of Power and Light worked to restore power for about 50 customers Monday, said Ken Ashworth, the division’s director.

Ashworth said that crews were dealing with cleanups that require more time to fix. The cleanups include outages caused by broken utility poles and disconnected power lines. Ashworth said he hoped to have service restored for all customers by Monday night.

Dominion restored power for its Southside customers Monday, according to Dominion’s Web site. Appalachian Power reported that 600 customers in Pittsylvania County did not have power, while 2,900 customers in Henry County were without power Monday, according to their Web sites.

Emergency shelters

Pittsylvania County’s emergency shelters did not receive nearly the same number of guests as Danville’s hotels.

Jim Davis, director of Pittsylvania County’s emergency services, said less than a dozen people came to the shelters at Tunstall and Gretna middle schools. No one stayed overnight.

Officials and volunteers opened the shelters Saturday and closed them Sunday.

“All we can do is make them available,” Davis said. “We open them because we feel like it is a vital option for (residents) to have.”

The Roanoke Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross sent volunteers to the shelters, said Amy Whittaker, a spokeswoman for the organization. She said there could be many reasons that the shelter did not receive many guests.

“It really depends on the situation for people,” Whittaker said. “Some may have found another place to stay. Some may have chosen to ride out the storm in their homes.”

The few people who came to the shelters got a snack, something to drink and a little warmth, Whittaker said.