Appalachian Power releases Sunday update after storms

(WDBJ) - As of early Sunday afternoon, fewer than 600 customers throughout Virginia and Tennessee are without power.

The full update from Appalachian Power can be read below:

“Situation

Power is back for 85 percent of the 50,000 customers impacted by heavy rain and high winds that swept across the company’s service territory.

Of the roughly 7,300 customers who remain without power, the majority are in West Virginia.

Crews have worked most of the larger outage cases, and are focused now on smaller outages affecting fewer customers.

Additional assessors, line mechanics and others arrived in West Virginia last night and today to join the company’s restoration effort.

No customer will be forgotten or overlooked.

Outages

Much work and patience will be needed to get service restored to the remaining customers affected by the storm.
Most of the remaining outage cases affect small numbers of customers. Of the 210 places crews still need to make repairs, only 14 will restore 100 or more customers when repaired.
Approximately 6,800 customers are without electric service in West Virginia. Areas with outages include: Boone, 68; Cabell, 1,340; Clay, 216; Fayette, 489; Jackson, 206; Kanawha, 1,209; Lincoln, 550; Logan, 89; Marshall, 76; Mason, 494; McDowell, 16; Mercer, 15; Mingo, 293; Nicholas, 99; Putnam, 622; Raleigh, 213; Roane, 223; and Wayne, 1,308.
Less than 500 customers are without service in Virginia. Fewer than 50 customers are without power in the company’s Tennessee service territory.

Restoration Estimates

Power is expected to be restored to customers in the Glade Spring and Gate City areas of Virginia by 11 pm, and by 6 pm in the Kingsport, Tenn. area.
Restoration estimates in West Virginia are as follows: Raleigh and Mercer counties, 11 pm; and all remaining areas of West Virginia by Monday night.

Storm Response Efforts

Appalachian Power planned for significant outages from this storm. Power was restored to approximately 40,000 customers over a 24-hour period.
Hundreds of assessors, line mechanics and tree crews quickly began work to repair damaged facilities and remove downed trees. Hundreds more joined the effort Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

Weather

Weather conditions are favorable for restoration.

Safety Message

All downed lines are dangerous — they carry an electric current that can cause serious or even fatal injuries. Stay away to stay alive. If you encounter a fallen wire, keep yourself and others away from it and anything it may be touching, and call 911 and Appalachian Power at 1-800-956-4237 immediately.
Additional safety tips are posted at https://www.appalachianpower.com/lib/docs/safety/PublicSafety_FactSheet_downedlines-APCO.pdf .

For More Information

Customers can report outages via https://www.appalachianpower.com/outages/report/ or the mobile app.

Customers can get specific, up to date information about outages affecting their accounts by viewing our outage map, or via text message and/or email by subscribing to Appalachian Power outage alerts. To sign up, please visit www.appalachianpower.com/alerts .

A snapshot view of current outages is available anytime at www.AppalachianPower.com . Go to the “What’s Your Outage Status?” section of the homepage and click “View Outage Map.””