Serving Cleburne County since 1906 Due to the threat of inclement weather The Cleburne News decided to publish early this week.
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Thursday, February 13, 2014
Cleburne prepares LAURA CAMPER
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Just two weeks after snow and ice paralyzed much of the state for days, a winter weather advisory Monday afternoon sent Cleburne County and city officials scrambling to prepare for more ice and snow. National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Laws said the county is on the cusp of a wintry mix of sleet and snow. However, since temperatures even on Monday weren’t reaching the predicted highs of mid 40s, Laws said he would predict snow for the area today. “We’re looking at this lingering into Wednesday, even as late as Wednesday afternoon,” Laws said. Laws said there could be a break in the precipitation Tuesday afternoon, but it was expected to pick up again early Wednesday morning. He said a total of 4 inches to 5 inches isn’t out of the question. Cleburne County Engineer Shannon Robbins said the county was expecting a new load of sand on Monday, “just in case.” “We’ve got a limited supply of the de-icing pellets that we can mix in with the sand,” Robbins said. “Today, we’ll try
Misty Pointer
Heflin street department employee Michael Bruno hauls sand which might be needed in predicted winter weather this week. to get everything fueled up in case power’s out a while.” The county is limited in its ability to combat ice on the roads in part because of funding, he said. But it does the best it can with what it has, Robbins said. “It’s just not fiscally responsible to pour a whole lot of money into that when naturally we don’t have a lot of money any-
way to keep up the roads throughout the year,” Robbins said. The county does have three trouble spots in bad weather, Robbins said. The hill on Cleburne County Road 10 near the intersection with CR 5, the hill on CR 24 near the Calhoun County line and the hill at CR 70 in the Borden Springs area are closed quickly if bad weather sets in, he said.
County Administrator Steve Swafford said all county offices will open two hours late, at 10 a.m. today. One of the biggest concerns is the ability to ensure that critical work force, including deputies, jailers and emergency management agency workers, are able to get to and from work beginning on this morning and continuing into Thursday,
Swafford said. The county is arranging transportation in four-wheel drive vehicles, he said. “We’re prestaging some folks overnight that could work the morning shift if they need to,” Swafford said. Superintendent Claire Dryden said the schools will be closed today. The students will be making up the day on President’s Day Feb. 17, Dryden said.
“We will make a decision about Wednesday tomorrow,” she said. City of Heflin officials met Monday to plan for the bad weather. “What will really be different on this one is going to be ice on the power lines,” said Mayor Rudy Rooks.
n See Weather page 6
Power outage in Heflin disrupts 4,000 customers LAURA CAMPER
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Laura Camper
Alabama Power linemen worked on restoring the 4,000 customer power in the Heflin area on Friday morning
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A broken power line disrupted power to about 4,000 customers in the Heflin area, including Pleasant Grove School, Friday morning, according to an Alabama Power representative. Calls started coming in about 6:30 a.m., said Wendell Wood, Heflin business office manager for Alabama Power. The company was able to start restoring power within 30 minutes, Wood said. Power was completely restored by 8 a.m. Superintendent Claire Dryden said the school’s power was restored by 7 a.m. However, the school excused all tardies and absences for the day. Many of the families in the Hollis area use wells for their water, and with the
power out, they had no water either, Dryden said. That would have made it difficult for the students to get ready for school, she said. “It was just for the families, a convenience for the families,” Dryden said. Six substations were affected by the broken line. Wood was unsure what caused the power line to break, but the men working to repair the line had a theory. “It looks like lightning strikes in the past and this cold coming in may have caused the line to break,” said Jamie Machen, who was working to repair the line off Brockford Street in Heflin about 9:30 a.m. The lightning strikes weakened the line; then the cold weather caused it to contract and that could have caused it to break, Machen explained. Staff writer Laura Camper 256-463-2872. On Twitter @LCamper_Star.
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