'Some parts of Guilford County Still Look a War Zone' : Storm Cleanup Continues

The cleanup continues throughout the Triad from Friday morning's winter storm that brought snow, ice and flooding.  

Guilford County Schools closed its doors Monday because of power outage issues. But as of around 9:30 a.m. today, the power is back on at all of the schools in the district.

Laurie Hogan is the program administrator for communications with Guilford County Schools. She says downed trees and other debris are still a big concern throughout the district.

“We unfortunately had some water damage from where the ice built up on the roof and we have crews cleaning that up as well. We also have some HVAC issues in some of our buildings. We have limbs and branches from trees that are scattered across our school campuses.” 

Some of the schools that sustained damage from the storm include Allen Middle School and Cone Elementary, both in Greensboro, and Northwood Elementary in High Point.

Hogan says the price tag for the cleanup is steep. “Preliminary estimates are showing that we may have $500,000 in cleanup costs and repairs.”

Currently, there are still around 50,000 North Carolina residents without power. Nearly half of those people are in Guilford County. Some of the major problem areas are in Greensboro, High Point and the southern end of the county.  

Duke Energy crews have been working throughout the weekend to restore power, but fallen trees and other debris are delaying the process in these areas.

Don Campbell, the division director for Guilford County Emergency Management, says the NCDOT, the Greensboro Department of Transportation, and the City of High Point have all relaxed their yard waste standards to make it easier for residents to help with the cleanup.

“The relaxed regulations in Guilford County are basically in the cities and in areas that are on public roads that the NCDOT maintains, as long as you get your yard waste to the street. The yard waste doesn't have to be bundled, put in clear bags or those types of things,” he explains.

Campbell says getting clean water to people who have wells has also been an issue. Over the past few days, the Pleasant Garden Baptist Church has been partnering with the American Red Cross to provide free water and shower facilities for impacted residents.

A disaster shelter has also been set up at the Glenwood Recreation Center on Coliseum Blvd. in Greensboro. Campbell says malfunctioning traffic lights are another problem in some parts of the county.

“Our biggest impact for the past day or so has been on traffic accidents. Some people are not treating stop lights that are not powered as four-way stops. One thing that we are urging people to do is if they encounter a traffic light that is not operational, please treat it as a four-way stop so we can reduce the number of accidents,” Campbell says.

Duke Energy estimates that power will be restored to most customers in the Guilford County area by 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 12.

Meanwhile, Hogan says the make-up day for schools that follow the traditional academic calendar will be Thursday, April 17.