Appalachian Power: Over 69,000 without power in Va. because of high winds
UPDATE 5:19 p.m.
Appalachian Power says over 69,000 people in Virginia are without power after the high winds moving through the area.
They say the winds have downed wires, damaged power poles, and caused trees to fall.
AEP officials say crews are working to install a mobile transformer after the Trinity substation was knocked offline Thursday evening. They say that work is expected to be completed Friday evening.
Officials say the winds are weakening, but will still be an issue Friday night.
They say the long duration of the strong winds along with the moisture-saturated soil will "likely continue to cause healthy trees to fall from outside the rights-of-way and damage poles and wires."
AEP says the following areas have the highest number of customers without power:
- Henry Co. 11,616
- Franklin Co. 8,740
- Lynchburg 6,981
- Patrick Co. 6,376
- Amherst Co. 5,906
- Bedford Co. 4,540
- Roanoke (City)3,259
AEP says over 1,000 workers are out working to restore power.
They say crews are coming in from Kentucky Power and AEP Ohio to help.
Customers can get specific information about their outages via text message and/or email by subscribing to Appalachian Power outage alerts. To sign up, click here.
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LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) -- Appalachian Power said it is still continuing to monitor the ferocious wind storm that is battering Virginia and West Virginia Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
There are thousands of power outages caused by the storm.
Areas in Virginia have seen upwards of 60 mph winds, damaging electrical facilities and leaving customers without power.
In Botetourt County, the Trinity substation was knocked offline by tree debris.
Appalachian Power said as the high winds continue to hammer the state, more outages are expected.
The long duration of strong winds along with moisture-saturated soil will likely cause healthy trees to fall from outside the rights-of-way and damage poles and wires.
Due to continuing high winds, Appalachian Power said it's still assesing the storm damage and while wind gusts remain dangerously high, crews cannot safely make repairs or work from buckets or on poles.
They won't be able to provide estimates on when the power will be back on until the storm passes.
Already, the company has secured some additional help from Kentucky Power and AEP Ohio, with some crews rolling into heavily damaged areas.
Remember, never remove debris that's within 10 feet of a power line. Under no circumstances operate lanterns, heaters, or fuel-fired stoves without proper ventilation.
Additional safety tips are posted here.
