Thursday, January 8, 2015

.BURST PIPES CLOSE ASHEVILLE CITY HALL FOR REMAINDER OF WEEK



BURST PIPES CLOSE ASHEVILLE CITY HALL, NC FOR REMAINDER OF WEEK

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — 

A burst pipe believed to have been caused by freezing weather led to an evacuation of Asheville City Hall and is expected to keep municipal offices closed for another day.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reports (http://avlne.ws/17nHkCs) the pipe burst on the seventh floor in the middle of the day Thursday.

City spokeswoman Dawa Hitch said customer service calls can still be made Friday and will be transferred to an answering service. All city facilities, with the exception of City Hall, will operate normally on Friday. Public safety and water service will not be affected by the closure.

All city board and commission meetings scheduled for Friday are canceled.
Across the state, school systems either delayed the start of classes or canceled classes entirely on Thursday because of the cold temperatures.

The National Weather Service issued a series of warnings and advisories across the state.
Portions of eastern and coastal North Carolina were warned of the threat of patchy freezing drizzle early Friday morning, although significant accumulations were not expected.
In the mountains, forecasters warned of cold weather that would stretch into the weekend with wind chills into the single digits.

The weather service also said there was a threat of wildfires for the piedmont and just east of the mountains because of wind conditions and low humidity. The conditions are expected to persist into Saturday.

Duke Energy reiterated its call for customers in the Carolinas to conserve electricity by cutting back on nighttime usage to help ease the load on its grid.