The days leading up to Christmas brought freezing temperatures to Wayne County, with actual temperatures dropping down into the single digits and wind chill factors below zero. Tennesseans are used to changing weather, but most agree that we are just not cut out for these literally freezing temperatures!
Despite everyone’s best efforts, many experienced frozen and burst water pipes. The City of Waynesboro Maintenance Department reported that they had worked on four major water line breaks as of Monday, including the one on Brewer Drive (pictured).
The former Lincoln Brass building, which is now owned by the City of Waynesboro, also experienced flooding when a sprinkler head broke and water sprayed uncontained for several hours before it was discovered.
Weather records maintained for many years state that the lowest temperature measured in Nashville, Tennessee was -17 degrees Fahrenheit on January 21, 1985. Wayne Countians were surely experiencing the same troubles then as we are now, even though most of us don’t have a “weather memory” that goes back that far!
TVEC issued a statement on Christmas Eve that due to the extremely low temperatures, TVA would be requiring rolling blackouts from local power companies. Power was shut off from all substations in Waynesboro, Collinwood, Clifton, and Savannah for 15-minute intervals. Most of us only experienced a couple of these rolling outages, and TVEC announced that they would be terminating them at 10:30 a.m. for the rest of the day. Thankfully, most of the turkeys that were in the oven did get a chance to finish cooking by supper time!
Boyd Cottages Assisted Living was not spared the difficulty of frozen and burst pipes. On Sunday, Christmas Day, Boyd Cottages Director Gina Skelton got a phone call while she was celebrating Christmas with her family, telling her that pipes were frozen and burst at the facility. Employees of Boyd Cottages, along with many awesome volunteers, worked hard throughout the day to get the mess cleaned up and making sure the residents were safe. Ms. Skelton said that many people brought bottled water to the facility, which was greatly appreciated as well.
To add insult to injury, Ms. Skelton returned home to check on her pets Sunday afternoon, only to find her living room completely flooded due to a frozen and burst pipe. She thankfully received lots of help from friends and family members to clean up the mess at her home as much as possible.
On Monday, Ms. Skelton posted, “Our residents are safe and happy. Some are staying with family members for the holidays, but most wanted to be here at home. After so many pipes froze and burst, we now have all the water turned off. We are awaiting our commissioners to make a decision about running new pipes.”
One of our readers submitted a photo, shown below, of what a field of frozen grass looks like after a water line bursts and sprays water everywhere. The photo shows how something so destructive can also bring about beauty and wonder.
With temperatures predicted to rise in the coming days, this Christmas 2022 Winter Blast will soon be just a memory that we hope will not be repeated anytime soon.
