RICHMOND COUNTY – As snowfall from Winter Storm Grayson is expected to re-freeze in the overnight hours, several local businesses and schools will see the second consecutive day of closures and delays on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018.
While the North Carolina Department of Transportation is diligently working to clear major and side roads alike, as noted in an earlier article, Richmond County Emergency Services Director Donna Wright is warning drivers to heed caution as roads will remain slick Friday upon the freezing of packed snow on county roads.
According to the National Weather Service in Raleigh/Durham, there are two current advisories in affect for Richmond County. A “winter weather advisory” remains in place until 7 a.m. Saturday, while a “wind chill advisory” is set from 8 p.m. Thursday until 10 a.m. Friday.
The NWS advises that black ice and refreezing are likely to occur on roads, and coupled with bitter temperatures and gusting winds, drivers and citizens should dress warmly to suppress any chances of frostbite.
At the time of this publication, Pee Dee Electric is reporting no local outages, per its website. Duke Energy, which restored an outage south of Hamlet Wednesday night, isn’t reporting any other local outages, though its dealing with some east of Richmond County along the I-40 corridor. Piedmont Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke, is also not reporting any local outages.
Nothing major has been reported in Hamlet or Rockingham at this time.
In the farther stretches of the County, Lee Berry, mayor of Ellerbe, commented that, “roads are full of black ice and icy patches,” as of around 8 p.m. Thursday. He also made mention that no vehicles were involved in accidents, nor were there any power outages to his knowledge.
Norman mayor Kenneth Broadway noted that the 220 bypass is “okay,” but country roads are “hit or miss” where the sun couldn’t hit icy spots.
CLOSURES AND DELAYS
Below are a list of reported closings and delays. The RO will update the list as new information becomes available:
US Post Office
Open normal business hours.
Richmond County Schools
Closed Friday for all faculty and students.
Richmond Community College/Cole Auditorium
Closed Friday for all faculty and students.
Notary Public and Nursing Assitant I classes canceled for Saturday.
Richmond County Government Employees
Airport Road, US 1, Hamlet and Cordova Box Site will open on time.
All other sites will open at 12 p.m. Friday.
Temple Christian School
Closed Friday
FirstHealth of the Carolinas
- FirstHealth MRH - Richmond Rehab in Rockingham will be open regular hours.
- FirstHealth Family Medicine in Raeford, Vass, Seven Lakes, Candor, Biscoe, Robbins and Pinehurst will all be closed.
- FirstHealth Family Medicine in Whispering Pines will open at 9 a.m.
- FirstHealth Family Medicine in Troy will open at 9 a.m.
- FirstHealth Family Medicine in Ellerbe will open at 10 a.m.
- FirstHealth Primary Care in Raeford will be closed.
- FirstHealth Neurosurgery in Pinehurst will be closed.
- FirstHealth Occupational Health will open at 10 a.m.
- FirstHealth Outpatient Rehabilitation - Aviemore Clinic will open at 10 a.m.
- FirstHealth Outpatient Rehabilitation - Sanford will open at 9 a.m.
Scotland Health Care System
Many offices plan to be closed Friday; call ahead to see if specific office is open.
Richmond County Health, Social and Aging Services
Will open at 10 a.m. Friday.
Richmond County Chamber of Commerce
Will operate on a two-hour delay Friday.
Farm Bureau Insurance (Rockingham)
Will open at 10 a.m. Friday.
City of Rockingham
Will open at 10:30 a.m. Friday.
Fort Bragg
Service members will report at 10 a.m. Friday.
Civilian workforce will report at 9 a.m. Friday.
Sandhills Children’s Center Rockingham and Southern Pines
Both locations will be closed Friday.
Second Baptist Christian Academy
Closed Friday for all faculty and students.
International Textile Group
Will open at 10 a.m. Friday for all shifts.
Roberdel Baptist Preschool
Closed Friday for all faculty and students.
Check back for updates.
