Rain that fell on Wednesday night has complicated the recovery of Newton County from Monday’s ice storm.
Newton County EMA director Robby Richardson said that the rain caused numerous trees and tree limbs to fall on power lines and local roads. He advised that most roads in the county are impassable, and the power situation has deteriorated.
“All of the work that the power crews did in the last two days was undone by the rain last night,” Richardson said. “I never thought the rain would do that, but it did. It helped with the ice situation, but it caused a lot of tree damage.
“We have trees down all over the county. About 75 percent of the county is without power. We’ve tried to keep the main roads clear, but the county roads are in bad shape. Basically, the only roads that might be passable right are Hwy. 15 and Hwy. 80. If you don’t need to be out on the roads, please don’t drive at this time.”
Southern Pine issued the following statement:
Richardson said the rain washed away most of the slush and ice from roadways, but the National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for today until 3 p.m. Light ice accumulations are expected with freezing drizzle.The hazardous conditions could impact the morning commute, especially on bridges and overpasses.
As of Wednesday night, Waste Pro was planning to resume trash pickup with Tuesday’s customers being picked up today and Wednesday’s customers being picked up Friday. It is unclear if the road conditions have caused the cancellation of trash pickup for another day at this time.
The Newton County Courthouse is going to attempt to reopen at noon today. Downtown Decatur, along with the ECCC campus, still has power at this time.
As of this time, the Newton County Appeal plans to deliver newspapers on Friday.
The USPS announced that mail routes in Newton County should have normal operations. Post Offices within the three-digit ZIP Codes starting with 369, 390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, and 397 are open with normal operations.
All schools are either closed or on virtual learning today. Newton Municipal Schools are on virtual learning today. Newton County and Union Public are closed today with no decision yet about Friday.
Newton County Academy and East Central Community College have each closed their campuses for the rest of the week. ECCC's cafeteria will be serving students in on-campus housing from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for lunch and from 4 to 5 p.m. for dinner.
According to Supervisor Charles Godwin, the Newton County Board of Supervisors meeting planned for today has been postponed. No reschedule date has been announced as of this time.
Decatur United Methodist Church is still open as a community warming shelter.
If you have any information regarding closings or if you are open for business, let us know via text at 769-222-3773 or email bmaze@newtoncountyappeal.com.
