Pool bubble, carports cave under weight of snow

By: Sharon McBrayer | Morganton News Herald
Published: December 21, 2009

Morganton --

It's been a while since folks in Burke County have experienced any kind of significant snowfall.
But they could probably have done without some of the damage that came along with it.
In Valdese, the weight of the snow caused the bubble over the town swimming pool to collapse, said Jeff Morse, Valdese town manager.
Morse said the bubble fell early Saturday morning. No one was inside at the time, he said.
After crews removed the snow, the bubble was raised again and no damage was found due to the collapse, Morse said.
"We were very fortunate," Morse said.
Several metal carports around Morganton collapsed under the weight of the snow, crashing on top of vehicles, said Scott Lookadoo, director of public works for the city.
Carports also collapsed and fell on cars in Drexel, said Matt Settlemyer, town manager. He saw two incidents but he had no other reports of damage in the town.
In Rutherford College, a power poll was snapped in two and pulled down lines at the old town hall, said Gaynell Donnelly, town administrator. She's not sure what caused the poll to snap, but she said the downed lines were blocking the entrance to the church beside of the old town hall.
No damage was reported in Hildebran, except for a metal awning falling at a business, said town officials.
And none was reported in Connelly Springs, said Jeanine Barus, town clerk.
But Barus has first-hand experience with the damage the snow caused. She said a metal carport at her home collapsed on top of a vehicle and a boat.
As for the Morganton and Valdese budgeting for snow, they say they're fine for now.
Lookadoo said his employees opted to take compensation time for the extra work they did over the weekend to remove the snow. He said giving compensation time will help to keep the budget under control.
"So I really appreciate their cooperation," Lookadoo said.
He said the city has plenty of salt and sand mixture in case the area sees more significant snowfall this winter.
The town of Valdese will pay overtime for their public works crews who worked over the weekend to remove snow from town streets. Morse said where the public works budget is concerned, in a worse-case scenario, if the town goes over what it's budgeted, it will have to make it up somehow.

Pool bubble, carports cave under weight of snow

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