PRINCETON, WV (WVNS) — The recent blast of winter weather will go down in the record books across the country.

It created a tough situation for both emergency response and management services. Despite the struggle, this winter storm will also serve as a reminder of how to better prepare for future winter storms.

The winter blast was only in West Virginia for a couple of hours, but the effects of the storm could still be felt by the end of the Christmas weekend. From power outages to dangerous wind chills, the storm proved to be a challenge for emergency services, including the Princeton Rescue Squad.

Mark Brooks, the Chief Operating Officer for the Princeton Rescue Squad, said the storm’s arrival caused a change in their plans.

“We really hadn’t plan on coming in until Friday evening so when it started coming in Friday morning between the hours of 3 and 6 AM, we had to kind of back up…we met Friday morning and just kind of had to rehash things out and move things forward a little bit in order to provide what the community needed,” said Brooks.

Part of the reason for the change in the original plan was the high wind gusts and how those impacted the wind chills. wind chill values.

Over the Christmas weekend, wind chill values consistently dipped into the negatives and with the power loss across Mercer county, hundreds of people were in need of proper heat.

Brooks explained this created an ever-evolving situation that proved difficult at times.

“From Friday morning all the way until this morning, manning the warming stations and moving parts between the county and between the local leaders and rescue squad, it was an ever-evolving situation throughout the weekend,” said Brooks.

Thankfully, with the help of local volunteers and the Salvation Army, the rescue squad was able to provide assistance to the citizens of Princeton. While Brooks believed the holiday weekend was a successful one, he added there is always room for improvement.

“I truly feel it was a great success, is there always room for improvement, yes…are we gonna start looking at additional resources coming in the next month, absolutely…in this job of emergency services, we’re always evolving and we’re always looking to do better,” said Brooks.

Evolving and making a better plan is just part of the job of emergency services, all to ensure that the next storm is not as bad.