Midland (Va.) Church of the Brethren was one of two locations opening their doors as warming facilities after a blizzard brought as much as 14 inches of snow to parts of Fauquier County, Va. Almost 3,400 homes and businesses in the county were without electricity on Tuesday. The church’s warming center stayed open throughout the night and Wednesday, until it was no longer needed.
Local news, including Fauquiernow.com, reported on the work to restore power by the three electrical companies that serve the county: Rappahannock Electric Cooperative restoring electricity to more than 90,000 customers statewide, Dominion Energy with more than 600 customers without power, and Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative with more than 350 Fauquier customers without power. Several hundred mutual-aid field employees from as far away as Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Georgia, and Florida joined local crews to make repairs and restore power, news outlets reported.
At the Midland Church, anyone in need of relief from the cold was welcome to drop by or stay the night. Available services included power stations for charging devices, warming up and relaxing with games and puzzles, bathrooms available but no showers. The kitchen provided pre-packaged snacks. COVID social distancing was required.
Midland Church also was one of the locations named by the Fauquier Times as open and offering shelter in advance of another snowstorm that was forecast to hit the area Thursday night into Friday this week. The church was open 24 hours on Thursday and Friday. See www.fauquier.com/news/governor-declares-state-of-emergency-ahead-of-expected-snowstorm/article_12f974e4-6f10-11ec-a494-db00e95cd752.html.
— Provided to Newsline by Regina Holmes, a member at Midland and a frequent contributor of photography coverage of Annual Conference and other Church of the Brethren events.
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