BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – Snow and ice in the Two Virginias has led to thousands left without power as freezing temperatures move into the area. Now we’re learning power restorations could stretch into the middle of this week.
The hardest hit areas in WVVA’s viewing area include Mercer, Raleigh and Tazewell Counties. AEP officials say ice has been the biggest issue.
“Anytime the ice gets over a quarter of an inch it can cause problems with our system. It weighs down our power lines and causes additional damage due to falling trees,” said Debby Pannell, AEP spokesperson.
AEP officials say ice accumulation increases the weight of a tree branch by as much as 30 times. Half an inch of ice increases the weight of a span of powerlines between poles by up to 500 pounds.
AEP says they have crews from multiple states throughout the Two Virginias working to restore power as bitter cold temperatures move into the area. In total more than 5,500 personnel are working to restore power, starting with public safety buildings like hospitals and fire stations.
“We will restore power to them initially and then we’ll also look at larger outages where we can restore a large number of customers with sometimes a single repair. We’ll get those back on and then we start working on individual outages,” said Pannell.
Pannell says estimated time of restoration for people in hard hit areas in Tazewell County, Mercer County and Raleigh County is Wednesday night. Some people can expect their power on sooner.
However, Pannell says more outages are possible as more snow is moving into the area. She says restoration efforts may be hampered by road conditions.
“Visit appalachianpower.com to view our outage map for additional information, to sign up for outage alerts so they will receive an alert when their power is restored,” said Pannell.
Pannell advises people to stay away from downed lines or sparking power equipment and report them to first responders. You should also never try to remove debris near downed lines or attempt to drive over them.
To view AEP’s outage map and sign up for outage alerts you can go here.
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