By Christopher J. Jackson
The winters in southern West Virginia aren’t quite like the ones Richard Mather experienced in Michigan, but this winter has been the worst he’s seen in the 40 years he’s lived in Beckley.
“It’s been terrible,” Mather, 71, said while shoveling his walkway. “It’s the worst I can remember in terms of overall effect.”
Mather spent late Tuesday morning shoveling the walk and driveway at his home off Maxwell Hill Road. He said if he was younger, removing snow wouldn’t be so bad.
“I’m shoveling just enough to get in and out and keep the steps clear,” he said.
As snow blankets the region yet again, Mather and others will be busy with their shovels. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the region through early Thursday morning with a total accumulation estimated between 7 and 14 inches.
Della Airey said this winter has been “real bad” for her. Airey lives on Egeria Road in Flat Top and said the snow is so high there that she could “fall right in it.”
She said that, so far, this winter has been the worst she could remember in her 14 years in the area.
It’s also been tough to rid her drive and walkways of the heavy accumulation.
“It’s too much for me to shovel,” she said outside the Beckley Crossing Kroger. “I’ve had to get people to do it for me.”
Airey said she’s sick of the snow, the winter and the ice and that she’s ready for it to end.
Heather McKinney said the winter has been “horrible.” She recalled other winters being bad, but this one hasn’t been exactly good.
“There’s been worse, but this one’s right up there,” she said outside the Beckley Wal-Mart.
She added, “The last snow, we had to dig out our entire road.”
It took McKinney almost an hour, she said.
When asked if she was ready for it to end she had two words: “Yes, badly.”
But not everyone is frowning over the snow. Some people, believe it or not, are enjoying it.
For Russ Billo, the snow, the ice, the cold are one big challenge.
Billo clears the snow from parking lots at the Beckley Magic Mart. He has a large truck with a plow and an even larger John Deere 544E wheel loader.
He said every snowfall is different and that leaves him with a new test to tackle.
Billo, who’s lived in Beckley his entire life, said this year’s winter has been rough, but he remembers one that was crippling.
He recalled that on Feb. 6, 1998, 42 inches of snow blanketed the region.
He said that storm wasn’t anything like the ones this year because it was so overwhelming.
Billo said business has been good for him this year.
“I’ll take what I can get, and when it’s gone, it’s gone,” he said while chaining a 15-foot plow onto the front of his wheel loader. “I love it because it’s a challenge.”
