Spotsylvania opens a warming center in response to thousands of county residents who remain without power as a result of the January 3, 2022 winter storm. The shelter opened at 10 p.m. Monday and is a Spotsylvania County Public Schools maintenance facility located at 8720 Courthouse Road (access road beside the Snow Branch Library in the Marshall Center). County residents seeking shelter at the warming center must wear masks due to the pandemic and only service animals are being allowed inside.
At the time of the warming center opening, over 31,000 Dominion Energy and Rappahannock Electric Cooperative customers living in Spotsylvania were still without power. There is no estimate of when power will be restored to all those affected, but Dominion and REC officials are telling customers to be prepared for outages lasting multiple days due to widespread damage that includes downed trees and power lines.
Snow began falling at approximately 2 a.m. Monday, January 3, and continued for over 12 hours, dumping an estimated 14 inches of snow over most of the county. Forecasters predict temperatures will fall into the teens overnight causing precipitation on roadways to freeze, which may slow down the ability of power crews to reach storm damage, further delaying restoration efforts. Spotsylvania declared a local state of emergency earlier today, which allows the county to seek help from other regional agencies and may allow for reimbursement from the Commonwealth for certain storm-related costs.