Appalachian Power Storm Response Update #13
Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024 – 9:30 p.m.
Situation
Hundreds of fallen trees, intermittent storms and difficult-to-access areas challenged Appalachian Power lineworkers and tree crews as they worked to restore power Sunday to customers impacted by Hurricane Helene. While focusing on customer and employee safety, workers were still able to restore power to 40,000 homes and businesses. As of 9 p.m. Sunday, 128,000 customers remain without electric service.
Outages & Damages
- Nearly 50% of the assessment is complete. Assessing damage following a storm is critical to prioritizing the public's and employees' safety by first identifying hazards, including downed trees, broken electrical equipment and fallen wire.
- Assessment teams continue to evaluate damage while navigating downed trees and flooded areas. Crews have found over 1,700 spans of fallen wire and damaged equipment, including 400 poles, 265 crossarms and 100 transformers.
- Workers have restored power to approximately 54%, or 154,000, of customers since the peak of 282,000 on Friday.
- About 93,300 of the remaining affected customers are in Virginia. Over 30,000 customers are without service in West Virginia, and about 4,000 are in Tennessee.
Storm Response Efforts
- Appalachian Power planned for outages from this storm by having all employees and business partners on alert and prepared to work.
- Appalachian Power crews began restoring power to several critical customers in its service territory as soon as it was safe.
- Over 3,500 employees and contractors remain dedicated to storm restoration work, including mutual assistance crews from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Oklahoma and Texas.
- As power is restored in Southern West Virginia, workers are moving to join those already working in Southern Virginia and Northeast Tennessee.
Restoration Estimates
- Monday, Sept. 30, 11 p.m. for most customers in West Virginia. The hardest-hit areas will see restoration go into Tuesday, Oct. 1.
- Monday, Sept. 30, 11 p.m. for the areas of Christiansburg, Fieldale, Stuart, Pulaski and Rocky Mount, Va.
- Tuesday, Oct. 1, 4 p.m. for the Roanoke, Va., area.
- Tuesday, Oct. 1, 8 p.m. for Beckley, Hico, Pineville and Welch, W.Va.
- Tuesday, Oct. 1, 11 p.m. for Kingsport, Tenn., and the areas of Bluefield, Glade Spring, Glen Lyn, Grundy, Floyd, Lebanon, Tazewell, Woodlawn and Wytheville, Va.
- Most customers without service will have power restored before the above estimates.
- Customers are encouraged to view the company's outage map or sign up for outage alerts for information on their specific outage.
- Restoration may extend further in isolated instances where extensive repairs are needed.
Weather
Intermittent storms on Sunday delayed service restoration in some areas. Despite light showers forecast through Tuesday, weather will be favorable for restoring electric service. Downed trees and flooded areas may impact restoration efforts. Crews will continue to work as safely and quickly as possible.
Hydro Facilities
- Appalachian Power has lifted the Potential Failure for the Byllesby/Buck Hydro Electric Facility. This information is being shared with local emergency agencies and personnel.
- AEP continues monitoring the hydro facilities and the rivers as they begin trending down, but it will take several days before they return to normal levels. Currently, we are at normal operating levels at our Claytor and Smith Mountain Hydro Electric facilities and will continue to operate as such. For updated information on the levels at our hydro facilities, visit our hydro flow website.
- Appalachian Power is warning all boaters to stay clear of Niagara Dam on the Roanoke River in Vinton. Debris brought on by the current heavy rains broke the floating boat barrier that keeps boaters away from the dam.
Safety Message
- High winds bring down 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 wires and anything the lines may touch, and immediately call 911 and Appalachian Power at 1-800-956-4237.
- Customers without power who are on life support systems or need uninterrupted electric service for health reasons should make alternate arrangements.
- Do not plug a generator into your circuit box if using a portable or RV generator.
- Flooding occurred in many areas throughout our service territory. Be cautious, and remember to turn around; don't drown.
- Find additional safety tips at AppalachianPower.com/Safety.
When to Call an Electrician
- Appalachian Power cannot connect power to a home or business if there is damage to the service entrance, which the customer owns.
- Customers need a qualified electrician to repair this damage before power can be restored. The service entrance includes the metal box housing Appalachian Power's meter, the "weatherhead" pipe on top of the meter box, the service entrance cables running from the weatherhead through the meter box to the inside panel box, and other related facilities. Similar responsibilities apply to "underground" service.
- After repairs are made, contact Appalachian Power to have power restored.
For More Information
Customers can subscribe to Appalachian Power outage alerts to receive specific information about outages affecting their accounts via text message and/or email. To sign up, please visit Appalachian Power alerts.
A snapshot of current outages is available anytime by visiting Appalachian Power's Outage Map.
Next Update: Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, 9 a.m.