RICHMOND, Va. – Dominion Energy crews have begun making repairs and restoring power to nearly 400,000 after the remnants of Tropical Storm Michael blew through the Commonwealth Thursday.
The powerful storm brought torrential rain and tornadic wind conditions that topped 75 miles per hour.
It also left behind downed trees and power lines in many locations.
“It didn’t discriminate it impacted a lot of our service territory across Central Virginia, so Farmville, South Boston and even Gloucester in the Northern Neck. We’ve had a lot of outages due to the tornado that touched down,” said Dominion spokesperson Alison Kaufmann.
Officials with Dominion Energy said damage in south-central portions of Virginia is catastrophic. Damage in Central Virginia is described as significant.
PHOTO: Jeffrey Ocampo/Dominion Energy
Throughout the day, Dominion crews will work with local officials to restore power to "critical infrastructures" such as hospitals, fire and police departments.
“We work on our critical infrastructures first, so we are working to restore 911 facilities water treatment plants and critical infrastructure’s that serve our community. Then we begin restoring the largest numbers of customers first,” said Kaufmann.
Dominion says they have already restored more than 250,000 customers through 3 p.m. Friday afternoon.
However, Ed Baine, senior vice president - Electric Distribution, calls the massive restoration project a “multi-day restoration effort.”
“We appreciate the patience of our customers and urge them to stay safe and mindful of electric wires that may be hidden by downed trees or flooded streets,” said Blaine. “We are dedicated to restoring power as safely and quickly as possible and will work around the clock until all of our customers are restored.”
Blaine says Dominion hopes to have the vast majority of their customers restored by the end of the day Monday, October 15.
“Of course, there will be a lot of customers restored well before then, but we want to give customers a sense of what they can expect to be able to plan their lives,” he added.
Dominion Energy officials say they’ve doubled their workforce, with crews coming as far away as Indiana to help.
As of 11 a.m. Friday there are more than 113,000 Dominion Energy customers without power. A majority of the outages are located Chesterfield (36,307), Henrico (18,704), Hanover (14,514), and the City of Richmond (20,521).
If your home is currently without power, you are asked to report it because crews may be able to temporarily switch the server that pumps energy into your home until complete repairs can be made.
For more information and updates on Dominion outages and restoration times click here.
Beware of any lines that may have fallen or come into contact with trees, debris, or water. Stay at least 30’ feet away and make sure your family, pets, and neighbors also avoid the downed wire. Call Dominion Energy right away at 866-366-4357 to speak with an agent to report the downed wire or an outage.
If you see storm damage, send news tips, photos, and video here.
