Snow power: Storm causes bark to bite

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - The scene is like something you'd find on a postcard, only this is one message some wish was never delivered.

"Heavy wet snow doesn't make it easy when you're working in back yards and working through brush and debris," says Bruce Coppock, Director of Operations with Dayton Power & Light.

Especially when that debris becomes the enemy, as trees topped with snow teetered toward power lines.

In all broken branches led to about 3,000 outages Wednesday.   

"Once you get 6 to 7 inches of heavy wet snow you're going to see the brittle branches come down and in some cases do bring down a power line," Coppock says.

That's why more than 400 Dayton Power and Light workers have, much like the snow, blanketed the area.

They've been preparing for the storm since Sunday.

2 NEWS caught up with a crew restoring power at the intersection of Far Hills and Whipp Road and just in time too after a close call between two cars.

Once working, the traffic lights kept those close calls at the intersection to a minimum, but the work was far from over for DP&L.

"The guys they do an unbelievable job in conditions that are just generally pretty treacherous," Coppock says.

Dangerous to work in, but delightful to look at.

It was a world of white, where even the wires were coated in snow.

In some cases they bend but are unlikely to break.

"The weight of the snow is really not an issue," Coppock says. "Our lines and our poles are built to withstand anything of this nature."

Anything but those branches that are postcard perfect but threatening to leave their stamp on your power supply.   

"From the system impact it's all about the trees," Coppock says. "What can the trees sustain?"