Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Ice.storm Damage CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and early evening, Facilities Services Director Jim Demarest said he is concerned there will be significant tree loss. “There’s not much warning with this heavy ice load. There’s a crack and then a thud when it hits tile ground,” he said. Arborist Kevin Curtis was out on the Horseshoe next to 1V1UIV1SS1UK. Museum on Tuesday after noon cutting limbs down and roping off un safe areas. He said it could take weeks to clear all the limbs and that the campus is going to look a lot different once the limbs have come down. He also said students should be careful and go around the barri cades to avoid injury. “Falling ice, you know, it’s not going to kill you. That limb, that’s gonna kill you,” he said. USC delayed Monday’s classes until 10 a.m. before canceling all classes at 8:40 Monday morning. University spokesman Russ McKinney said the university usu ally mirrors what the state gov ernment does but also looks at the “overall health and safety aspect of the campus... and then look at what the ptTblic schools are doing' because many of our faculty and staffhave children in school.” At least i,uuu utility workers were scram bling Tuesday afternoon to re store power. SCE&G spokeswoman Christy Farrell said she did not know when power would be restored. “We’re not even making an es timate right now,” she said. “We’ve been working to restore it since yesterday. We’re running into the problem of having to go back to the same circuits more than once.” While Columbia was in dark ness, most of USC enjoyed light. That’s because the university has a primary electrical distribution system that is fed from SCE&G. The power rims through three en ergy plants on campus and pro vides heat, air conditioning and power to about 6 million square feet of building space. So while ice and fallen tree limbs were taking out power lines, USC’s power sup ply was safe underground. Demarest said most buildings have emergency generators that would provide some power to buildings if the power went out. He said the only way USC would lose power was if the SCE&G fa cility were somehow damaged by an act of God. “We’re not completely bullet proof, but we’re not as vulnerable as many city entities,” he said. Staff writers Jon Turner and Justin Chappell contributed to this story. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu “We’re not completely bulletproof, but we’re not as vulnerable as many city entities.” JIM DEMAREST FACILITIES SERVICE DIRECTOR PHOTOS BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK The handicap walkway outside the Russell House was closed Monday and Tuesday becasue of ice. Right, trees on the Horseshoe were in danger of losing limbs from the ice. PHOTO BY MORGAN FORD/THE GAMECOCK Workers prepare to install a 500 kilowatt generator for The Roost. The residence hall lost .power during the storm. The cold shoulder 01 Old Man Winter BY JUSTIN CHAPPELL THE GAMECOCK If a 20-foot long tree limb falls onto a sidewalk on Barnwell Street across from Capstone House and only one person is there to see it, will it answer the age-old philosophical question about trees falling in the forest? No. But it will drive home the fact that the freezing rain that hit Columbia Sunday night and all day Monday wreaked havoc on area trees and turned some side walks into ice-skating rinks. “I heard this crack and saw the branch come down,” said USC map librarian David McQuillan, who was walking toward Capstone as the tree limb snapped. “It just fell.” This particular tree limb was one of about seven large limbs eas ily recognized as recently break ing from a tree. Many other trees, both on campus and around Columbia, were badly bowed from the weight of the frozen rain. One such tree, between the Business Administration building and the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, was bent to such an extreme that many of its lowest lying branches were touching the ground, creating a sort of natural tent. And it’s no wonder these tree limbs were breaking and bending. The storm of freezing rain brought upwards of one-half of an inch of ice to the area, according to the National Weather Service of Columbia. “It looks like the extra ice weight was enough to pull it loose,” McQuillan said of the bro ken limb on Barnwell Street. As the freezing storm contin uea into Monday after noon, icicles de veloped beneath most out-hang ing structures. A bench near the Capitol was riddled with dangling ice spikes. But these dangling icicles de veloped on power lines as well. “I’m starting to get nervous about power outages,” said Mark Collins, a resident on Hamrick Street near campus who had a bro ken tree limb lying in his front yard. The National Weather Service also reported that power outages were a possibility: “The ice will likely break many tree limbs and power lines. Many areas will likely experience a pe riod without power.” And they were right. The State reported a total of 100,000 Midlands-area residents without power. “A tree fell on the power line, and now it’s dangling in the road at windshield height,” said Kimberly Hartig, third-year man agement student who lives r t Virginia Street. “I’ve seen fi> people nit it al ready.” Even though the most serious I danger seemed to | linger in falling ; limbs and power I lines, slippery I sidewalks were the most common threat. “It s dangerous out here,” Vanessa Frazier, a first-year nurs ing student and sidewalk ice skater, said. “I’m glad they can celed class because a lot of people would be hurt.” Frazier then turned away and carefully slid off to enjoy the rest of her day without classes. ) Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu Svjj ’ " *'**' "' *: ' • - •■- i.'- '**- "T^:, ■*’w). ''■-ft'fFy ~ ’• , .. ,,. ; sai^a^jg 9B S| B B Jgs B SB B HS B w fp n I BMBBjj pH pisSs |IBI ■■ |B^b I iiil^