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Dense, wet snow blamed for knocking out power to thousands

Posted at 1:43 AM, Dec 10, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-10 21:21:32-05

RICHMOND, Va. -- Crews are making progress after thousands of people lost power after a winter storm dumped heavy, wet snow across Central Virginia Friday afternoon through Saturday.

As of 9 p.m. Sunday, the number of customers without power had dropped to just over 530 customers, according to Dominion Energy.

Here's a breakdown by location:

  • Buckingham -- 10
  • Chesterfield -- 11
  • Goochland -- 376
  • Hanover -- 77
  • Henrico -- 48
  • Powhatan -- 5
  • Richmond City -- 15

As of 1 p.m. Sunday, 3,303 customers were without electricity.

Here's a breakdown by location:

  • Amelia -- 114
  • Buckingham -- 72
  • Chesterfield -- 564
  • Cumberland -- 100
  • Dinwiddie -- 126
  • Goochland -- 150
  • Hanover -- 365
  • Henrico -- 981
  • King and Queen -- 4
  • King William -- 32
  • Lunenburg -- 2
  • New Kent -- 3
  • Nothumberland -- 3
  • Nottoway --99
  • Petersburg -- 204
  • Powhatan -- 274
  • Prince Edward --111
  • Prince George -- 87
  • Richmond City -- 549
  • Richmond County -- 1
  • Westmoreland -- 34

And earlier at 10 a.m. on Sunday, more than 6,500 customers remained without power.

Here's a breakdown by location:

  • Charles City -- 3
  • Chesterfield -- 698
  • Dinwiddie -- 1
  • Essex -- 27
  • Goochland -- 474
  • Hanover -- 456
  • Henrico -- 1,009
  • King William -- 28
  • New Kent -- 4
  • Nothumberland -- 18
  • Petersburg -- 204
  • Powhatan -- 552
  • Prince George -- 87
  • Richmond City -- 3,129
  • Richmond County -- 8
  • Westmoreland -- 117

Rob Richardson with Dominion Energy said crews have restored power to more than 50,000 customers as linemen worked close to 2,000 locations that required repairs.

"We expect to have at least 90% of the remaining customers restored by 11:00 PM Sunday evening. All remaining customers impacted by this snow storm are expected to be restored by noon on Monday," Richardson said. "To help customers plan, we continue to provide estimated restorations times on projects as they are dispatched. By Sunday morning at 7 AM, all projects without power from the storm will have an estimated restoration time."

However, Richardson said breezy conditions Sunday may help blow some of the dryer snow off the trees, but it could also mean some limbs bouncing up and making contact with powerlines.

"We urge customers to stay at least 30 feet away from trees that make contact with power lines and immediately call 911. If service interruptions occur, please remember to report your outage. We do not have a system that notifies us when a customer is without power. We rely on communications from our customers. Use a mobile device at www.dominionenergy/outage or call our toll free line at 1-866-DOM-HELP."

Report downed wire at 1-866-DOM-HELP. As a precaution, stay a minimum of 30 feet away and allow first responders from Dominion Energy to assess the situation.

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