Winter Storm 2004

Pitt County Schools remained closed on Tuesday with many kids taking advantage of the snow and ice by sledding down hills.

One reported fall injured a Grifton child’s back but no other major injuries were reported.

In Grifton, Chief Morrisette said two wrecks had been reported although there were several minor accidents throughout town. Morrisette attributes most of Monday and Tuesday’s fender benders to people driving too fast in the icy conditions.

"Folks just won’t slow down," Morrisette said.

Grifton Town Administrator Michael Peoples said the town’s utilities fared well through the storm as well, with no power outages reported. Town Hall closed down both Monday and Tuesday, but Peoples expects it to reopen today. The workshop meeting is still planned for this afternoon as well.

In Winterville, there were no reported problems. Town Manager Bill Whisnant said all the utilities were functioning properly and no power outages had been reported.

Whisnant hoped that because of the higher temperatures on Tuesday, the ice would go away and alleviate some of the problems on the roadways.

"We’re hopeful we’ll get rid of the worst of it," Whisnant said.

Winterville’s Town Hall was closed on Monday but reopened at 10:30 Tuesday morning. Whisnant said some employees were unable to report to work because of the icy roads near their homes. The billing period was also extended through Tuesday so customers would not have to risk the dangerous roadways to pay their utility bill.

 No major accidents were reported in Winterville although, according to Lt. Thil Hurley, of the Winterville Police Department, there were some minor mishaps throughout the area.

Ayden’s Town Hall reopened Tuesday at 11:00 with expectations of closing down a little early to get employees home before the temperatures drop again.

The Ayden Board of Commissioners planned to meet at 7:00 on Tuesday,  but because of the icy roads, Town Manager Adam Mitchell said the meeting was moved again to Monday, February 2 at 7:00. The meeting was originally set for Monday January 26 at 7:00 p.m.

Mitchell said there were no reported power outages and the town’s system fared well through the storm as well.

"We have not had a single call for power outages," Mitchell said.

Mitchell said there were some reported telephone problems but indicated that Sprint is working and getting those back online.

The biggest problem, according to Mitchell, was the secondary roads throughout Ayden. He said the state did a good job getting Highway 102 and Lee Street clear. Meanwhile the Ayden work crews poured salt and sand on secondary in-town roads, but Mitchell says that until the temperatures got a little higher, the sand and salt wouldn’t do much good.

Expected ice and snow did not materialize as predicted Monday night, but colder temperatures are projected into Wednesday, keeping the icy conditions around for some time to come.

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