Copperas Cove thaws out after icy finish to last week

By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press

As the temperatures dropped Wednesday evening, the ice and snow rolled in, leading to school closures, road closures and business closures on Thursday and Friday. 
Winter Storm Landon came just before the one-year anniversary of Winter Storm Uri, but this year’s winter storm left less of an impact compared to the previous year. 
Copperas Cove Public Relations Director Kevin Keller shared that Oncor had reported just 13 outages during the storm, 12 of which resulted from equipment issues and one which was due to miscellaneous reasons. During Winter Storm Uri, thousands of residents were without power due to issues with equipment as well as rolling blackouts due to high demand of electricity straining the state’s power grid. Hundreds of residents were also without water in Copperas Cove during Winter Storm Uri. 
Deputy Fire Chief Gary Young reported on Friday that from Wednesday afternoon to Friday afternoon, the Fire Department had responded to only a few weather-related incidents including a minor motor vehicle collision and a few calls for persons falling. 
“All in all, great thanks go out to our citizens who stayed home and stayed warm,” Young said. 
Copperas Cove ISD announced school closures for Thursday on Wednesday afternoon just before 3 p.m., and for Friday, just before 3 p.m. on Thursday. 
The city of Copperas Cove announced in advance of the winter storm that residents should expect a delay in recycle, bulk and brush pick-ups for Area 7. The Solid Waste collections for Areas 7 and 8 were pushed up to Wednesday ahead of the storm instead of on their regular collection day of Thursday. 
The city also opened the Copperas Cove Civic Center, located at 1206 W Avenue B, as a temporary warming center beginning Wednesday evening at midnight to offer temporary relief from the cold to residents. The warming center was closed on Friday morning from a lack of residents using the facility since mid-Thursday. 
The city’s Street Department crews worked from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, treating major roadways with a sand and gravel mixture and remobilized on Friday morning. 
The Copperas Cove Police Department closed eight streets due to steep hills and dangerous conditions including Ash Street, Colorado Drive, Freedom Lane, Mountain Avenue, Mueller Street, Ogletree Pass, Pecan Cove Drive and Veterans Avenue. 
By Friday afternoon, some residential streets were dry, and other roads were melted, including Business 190 through town. By Saturday, the only thing left from Winter Storm Landon were patches of ice here and there, specifically in shaded areas. 
The low temperatures will head back to normal ranges of upper 30s by Tuesday evening, with forecasts showing highs of 60s and 70s by Friday, according to the National Weather Service.