Appalachian Power says those strong overnight winds left 25,000, businesses and other customers in the dark at one point. That number was down to less than 10,000 by late morning, most of them in West Virginia. And Apco expects almost everyone still without service to get their power back by tonight.
Appalachian Power Storm Response Update 10:00 am Thursday:
Situation
A prolonged and widespread period of high wind punctuated by gusts of more than 50 mph brought trees and limbs down onto power lines and left a peak of 25,000 customers without electric service.
Outages
Approximately 7,300 customers in West Virginia and another 2,000 in Virginia are currently without electric service as a result of wind damage.
Storm Response Efforts
More than 300 additional workers, including crews from North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee, are moving into more heavily damaged areas to assist local employees and contractors with service restoration.
Restoration Estimates
Most customers still without service as a result of wind damage should have service restored by tonight. In some isolated instances where damage is most extensive, especially in Jackson, Marshall and Ohio counties in West Virginia, restoration may extend into Friday.
Safety Message
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 posted at https://www.appalachianpower.com/outages/faq/OutageSafetyTips.aspx.
