Pittsylvania County declares local state of emergency ahead of Thursday’s ice storm

Many are still without power in the county

Crews work to restore power in Southside

PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. – Pittsylvania County leaders are taking action ahead of Thursday’s ice storm.

During a Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday afternoon, they declared a local state of emergency.

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This activates the local emergency operations plan and authorizes the furnishing of aid and assistance, according to Virginia law.

Here’s a more in-depth look at what it means to declare a local emergency.

“We saw how significant the impact that this past weekend’s ice and winter weather had on our community, and we want to enable our emergency department to respond as needed in the coming days,” said Board Chairman Bob Warren.

Due to the widespread power outages in the territory of all five of the utility providers that operate in Pittsylvania County, some of which are still in effect, many Pittsylvania County volunteer fire departments have been opening their doors to the public.

You can keep up with which stations are open on the Pittsylvania County Public Safety Facebook page.

As a result of the winter weather from last weekend and the upcoming storm, the Board of Supervisors also elected to waive tipping fees at the Pittsylvania County landfill for all county citizens depositing storm debris for the next 90 days.