The 2012 weather system now known as a derecho dealt parts of West Virginia a crippling blow as high winds knocked down trees and power lines, leaving as many as 1.6 million without electricity. This unidentified motorist on South Hills’ Louden Heights Road was one of many who found tough going in the storm’s aftermath.
Three years after a rare storm wreaked havoc on West Virginia, officials say the state has learned its lessons, and counties and state agencies are better prepared for future calamities.
The June 29, 2012 derecho caused about 1.6 million West Virginia residents to lose electricity at some point. The National Weather Service issued severe thunderstorm warnings for counties all along the storm’s path, but the weather system, fueled by triple-digit temperatures, was much more intense than a regular thunderstorm. Wind gusts as high as 78 mph toppled trees and tore down some power transmission towers; damages to the state’s power transmission infrastructure exceeded $170 million.
Some were without electricity for more than two weeks. Some cellular communication towers and landline telephones lost service and 27 of the state’s 50 911 centers were affected. Some broadcasters that typically relay emergency information were knocked off the air. In the days that followed, gasoline became scarce as residents flocked to fuel up, making it difficult for officials to keep emergency generators running.
Terrance Lively, public information officer for the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the state has since invested in about 50 generators. They can be put into place to power critical facilities, such as 911 centers or hospitals, in the event of an emergency.
“These generators have been repaired (when needed) and checked for proper working order by the West Virginia National Guard,” Lively said. “We have these assets available for critical infrastructure during power outages from disasters. Some of the individual facilities have also worked with the local emergency management offices to apply for federal mitigation funds for generators.”
Lively said the storm and its aftermath was a learning experience for the state and has helped officials respond better to other emergencies. Lively said members of the public should now be aware that they ought to have enough emergency supplies — including food, water and necessary medication — to be self-sustaining for at least 48 hours because help may not show up right away. That said, he also noted that response times have improved since then.
Breakdowns in communications were one of the many issues highlighted in an after-action review ordered by Tomblin and released in 2013 — in particular, poor communications between emergency officials and utility companies.
Complicating matters, 20 generators were stolen from Frontier Communications after the storm and only five were recovered. Generator theft “dropped significantly” during the Hurricane Sandy emergency response later in 2012 because police patrols were coordinated near utility companies’ generators.
Phil Moye, spokesperson for Appalachian Power, which serves one million customers in West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee, said his company and its parent company, American Electric Power, have established an incident command that coordinates power restoration efforts in the event of a widespread power outage. He said that model is much like the emergency response protocols used by state and local governments, and it allows for a better flow of information between the power company and emergency agencies.
The company has also developed an outage notification system that allows the company to disseminate critical information directly to customers via email or text message in the event of an outage.
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