Young Martha Dandridge Custis

Young Martha Dandridge Custis

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Bridge Swept Away

Nearby State Ready for New Fall of Snow

Maryland and Virginia 'Dig Out' After Storm Fatal to Four.

By the Associated Press.
Recovering slowly from the effects of a howling snowstorm that resulted in the death of four persons, Maryland and Virginia were prepared yesterday for another fall on top of the 3 to 16 inches that already blanketed the State.
The weather forecast was for "increasing cloudiness, probably followed by snow Sunday."
The most tragic death in the storm was that of Sergt. Wilbert V. Hunter. State policeman who perished in the daring attempt of 15 men to carry food across the ice from Crisfield to Tangier Island in a blinding snow. Three men died in Baltimore of heart attacks believed induced by overexertion after the heavy snowfall.
Falling temperatures Friday caused new ice to form on the Cheaspeake Bay and hinder shipping, while motor traffic moved slowly over the ice and snow covered roads.

Fall of Two Feet

The snowfall Friday on the Eastern Shore, which bore the brunt of the storm, reached 2 feet on the level in some places. Virtually every school on the shore was closed because buses could not negotiate the snow-choked roads.
While western Maryland escaped the heavy fall, it experienced sub-zero temperatures early Friday. Oakland had an official low of 20 degrees below zero.
Other low marks were 16 below at Keedysvill and ll below at Chewsville, near Hagerstown: 12 below at Alta Mont, Garrett County 11 below at Frederick and 2 below at Cumberland.
The snow in Virginia will be light , only lasting a few hours, according to F.N. Hibbard, of the Richmond Weather Bureau. Meanwhile the temperatures will remain low, he predicted, with the cold wave now harrowing the Middle West sweeping in behind the snow to send the mercury tumbling tonight.

Thousands on Job

Between 5,000 and 10,000 workers Friday in the cities and on the highways of Virginia sought to restore communications crippled by the state's heaviest snowfall in years. The State highway department reported more difficulty with ice at West Point. About 200 feet more of the Bruce Bridge across the the Pamunkey was swept away, making some 350 feet altogether, and the Graham Bridge across the Mattaponi faces the prospect of similar damage.
Practically all Virginia roads were reported open late Friday and bus lines were maintaining their schedules.
The Eastern Air Lines reported at Byrd Airport, Richmond, that all their planes were snowbound. Planes from other fields were passing overhead on schedule, however.

-The Washington Post, Feb 9, 1936

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