Power outages continue as storms move out

Damages from severe weather Thursday afternoon and night caused more than 40,000 customers to lose power.

According to Appalachian Power, crews have been able to restore service to over half of those affected as of 5:18 pm EST Friday. Around 8,400 Virginia customers are still experiencing outages. while an additional 9,100 have lost signal in West Virginia.

Restoration estimates are as follows, according to Appalachian Power:

Virginia: Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise and Wythe counties

West Virginia: Cabell, Jackson, Lincoln, Mason, McDowell, Mercer, Monroe, Putnam, Wayne and Wyoming counties

Virginia: Albemarle, Amherst, Bedford, Botetourt, Campbell, Carroll, Floyd, Franklin, Grayson, Henry, Nelson, Patrick and Roanoke counties

West Virginia: Fayette, Greenbrier, Nicholas, Raleigh and Summers counties

West Virginia: Boone, Clay, Kanawha, Logan, Marshall, Mingo, Ohio and Roane counties

The complete restoration is expected to be finished by Sunday night.

Downed power lines should be avoided and seen as live lines.

Additional tips for staying safe can be found by clicking

.

Check the

for Appalachian Power to get status updates.

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Power outages continue in the aftermath of stormy weather throughout southwest Virginia, with more than 20,000 customers still without power as of Friday afternoon.

Check the

for Appalachian Power to get status updates.

AEP says, "High winds could hamper our ability to respond immediately. We cannot safely make repairs while trees and limbs are still falling, and cannot safely work from buckets or on poles while wind gusts are still dangerously high."

In a safety message, AEP says, "Wind storms can cause many downed power lines. Customers should treat all downed lines as live power lines and stay away from them. Never touch downed power lines or sparking equipment. Keep children and pets away from fallen lines and anything the lines may touch."

Additional safety tips are

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Customers can get specific information about the outages affecting their accounts via text message and/or email by subscribing to Appalachian Power outage alerts. To sign up,