Polk County commissioners hear report on Winter Storm Diego

COLUMBUS — Polk County Commissioner Chair Tommy Melton said when his wife woke him up in the middle of the night to say the power was out and he listened to the scanner, “it sounded like we were in a war.”

Commissioners met Monday and heard a report from County Manager Marche Pittman regarding Winter Storm Diego, which hit the area Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 8 and Dec. 9.

“People couldn’t get through,” Melton said. “I didn’t know when we woke up if we had a Polk County.”

Pittman showed pictures of local roads where many trees fell during the storm. Diego dumped 6 to more than 18 inches of snow and ice on Polk County, with Saluda receiving the most in the area at 18.5 inches. Schools were closed for four days following the storm, with the school system approving a new schedule Monday night and saying snow days are already used up for the year.

Pittman said 45 people stayed at the shelter, which was the most people he has ever seen utilize the county’s shelter for any event.

“It was a big impact on our community,” Pittman said.

He also said at one point, there were 10,000 people without power in Polk County.

“Emergency service folks did an outstanding job of responding,” Pittman said.

He also commended the North Carolina Department of Transportation for their response to getting so many trees cleared from the roads.

Shelters were originally set up at Polk County Middle School and the Saluda Fire Department. The middle school shelter was moved to the high school over the weekend as the high school had power and the middle school did not.

Pittman said the shelter is staffed 75 percent by county staff, mainly from the department of social services. He said it was interesting that, at the last county commissioner meeting just two weeks ago, the county decided to pay out compensatory time to all employees and then the storm hit and built more comp time.

Commissioner Ray Gasperson said he thinks it is important about that comp time because he was blindsided by the number. The county used fund balance to pay $275,000 worth of comp time to employees, with $205,000 to sheriff’s office employees alone.

Pittman said he thinks meeting with department heads and commissioners frequently on comp time will give staff and opportunity to see if the way employees are compensated is sustainable.