Winter Storm Was Inconvenient, But The City ‘Dodged The Bullet’
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Water Valley Street Superintendent Michael Scroggins signals to the backhoe operator last Wednesday as city crews worked to clear ice and snow piled up on the curb after Main Street was graded. The cleanup effort in the city started last Monday and continued for a week. – Photo by David Howell
WATER VALLEY – The two-punch winter storm that brought ice Sunday night and Monday and snow and ice again Wednesday and Thursday marked a first for city workers in Water Valley. The storms prompted a week-long effort that including grading streets and clearing ice along businesses, work that even included hauling the ice and snow out of town to slowly melt.
Although it was a busy week for the crews and inconvenient for the residents, Mayor Donald Gray reported he is thankful the city “dodged the bullet” as there were no major problems reported.
“The city workers did a great job, I hope people appreciate it,” Gray reported. The mayor said that the street department got busy Monday grading the ice off the roads, work that created new problems as the grader blade left mounds of snow along the sidewalks on Main Street that impeded access to businesses.
“We tried to get it out from in front of the businesses that were open,” Gray added. This was on Wednesday morning, two days into the effort as Street Department Superintendent Michael Scroggins and his crew scooped and even shoveled the snow into a dump truck.
“The first time we tried to haul some of the ice, it was refreezing in the bed of the dump truck. It just didn’t want to leave,” Gray added about the uphill battle.
The storm’s next round hit Wednesday and continued Thursday and the city crew was back at it.
“At some point during this I told them to go home, we were fighting a losing battle and could not stay ahead of it,” Gray said, adding they were back at it the next day.
“In February, 1986, we had some heavy snow but nothing like this. They would scrape off four or five inches of snow and it seemed like there were two inches of ice under that. The grader blades would almost bounce off it,” Gray also noted about the work.
Thankfully some departments weren’t as busy as others. Gray said there were no leaks reported on the city’s water lines, which meant the water department workers were the least busy of all the departments. After three minor power outages were repaired, the electric department also had a relatively uneventful remainder of the week with no downed lines. Gray said the police department stayed busy, but again nothing major.
“It was very active, people were sliding off roads,” Gray said about police calls. “They also tried to help the sheriff’s department answer calls when they were tied up on different scenes.”
Gray also thanked the businesses who were open during the storm.
“Everybody should appreciate the businesses that stayed open and tried to take care of the folks. People stepped up,” Gray added.
