Around 110,000 Appalachian Power customers remain without power across Appalachia

UPDATE: Monday, September 30, 2024 @ 6:07 p.m. | GHENT, WV (WVNS) — Around 110,000 Appalachian Power customers remain without power across Appalachia due to weather caused by Tropical Storm Helene.

According to a Storm Response Update from Appalachian Power, around 110,000 Appalachian Power customers in West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee, with crews from 21 states arriving to help restore power.

The amount of power outages that remain affected by the storm include:

• Around 83,000 in Virginia
• More than 23,000 in West Virginia
• Around 4,000 in Tennessee

Power was restored to more than 60 percent, or around 172,000 Appalachian Power customers, since the worst of the outages on Friday, September 27, 2024.

More than 60 percent of the damage assessment is complete, and crews discovered around 2,000 spans of fallen wire and damaged equipment, which included 465 poles, 285 crossarms, and 115 transformers.

Power restoration estimates for Appalachian Power customers includes:

• 11:00 p.m. on Monday, September 30, 2024 – Most customers in West Virginia. (Restoration for harder-hit areas could go into Tuesday, October 1, 2024).
• 11:00 p.m. on Monday, September 30, 2024 – For the areas in Virginia such as Christiansburg, Fieldale, Stuart, Pulaski, and Rocky Mount.
• 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 – For the Roanoke, Virginia area.
• 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 – For Beckley, Hico, Pineville, and Welch, West Virginia.
• 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 – For Kingsport, Tennessee, as well as areas such as Bluefield, Glade Spring, Glen Lyn, Grundy, Floyd, Lebanon, Tazewell, Woodlawn, and Wytheville, Virginia.

Appalachian Power stated that customers could see power restored before the estimated times, however areas that need extensive repairs could have longer restoration times. They also advised that other arrangements are recommended for people in areas without power who are on life support systems or who need uninterrupted electric service for health reasons.

Around 5,000 contractors and employees with Appalachian Power are working on storm restoration, including crews from 21 states, with some being as far away as Wisconsin, and once crews restore power in southern West Virginia, they will travel and help areas in southern Virginia and northeast Tennessee.

The Appalachian Power Storm Response Update stated that crews are monitoring the Byllesby/Buck Hydroelectric Facility, and that the Buck and Byllesby Powerhouses are not operable due to maintenance from the high waters caused by Tropical Storm Helene.

In the Storm Response Update, Appalachian Power stated that it is recommended for boaters to stay away from the Byllesby and Buck dams on the New River near Ivanhoe due to the floating boat barrier at Byllesby being broken by debris, as well as sand and debris around the dams themselves.

Boaters were also advised to avoid the Niagara Dam on the Roanoke River in Vinton due to debris. There is also a large amount of debris at the Claytor Hydro facility and clean-up activities are being planned with the Friends of Claytor Lake.

If anyone comes across a downed power line, Appalachian Power advised people to not touch it, treat the power line as if it is live, and keep pets and children away from any downed power lines.

Do not try to drive through flooded roads, turn around and find a safer route. If the vehicle stalls or is stuck in rising water, leave it while you can and go to higher ground. Do not drive through standing water, because standing water can be deeper than it appears, have a fast current, and could hide objects such as debris, potholes, or downed power lines.

In the Storm Response Update, Appalachian Power stated that they cannot restore power to homes or businesses if the service entrance, which includes the metal box housing the meter, the “weatherhead” pipe on top of the meter box, the service entrance cables that run from the weatherhead through the meter box to the inside panel box, and other related facilities, is damaged.

Customers will need a qualified electrician to fix any damage before Appalachian Power can restore service to the house or business. Once any necessary repairs are made, customers can contact Appalachian Power to get power restored to the area.

Stick with 59News and StormTracker 59 for the most up to date weather information.

GHENT, WV (WVNS) — Nearly 112,000 Appalachian Power customers across Appalachia remain without power due to weather caused by Tropical Storm Helene.

According to a Storm Response Update from Appalachian Power, around 111,600 Appalachian Power customers in West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee, with crews from 21 states arriving to help restore power.

Crews working on restoring power to areas affected by Tropical Storm Helene ran into extensive damage and other issues that made it difficult to access work sites to restore power. More than 50 percent of the damage assessment is complete, and crews discovered around 1,900 spans fallen wire and damaged equipment, which included 450 poles, 275 crossarms, and 110 transformers.

Power was restored to more than 60 percent, or 170,400 Appalachian Power customers, since the worst of the outages on Friday, September 27, 2024, and more than 3,100 locations in southern West Virginia, southern Virginia, and northeast Tennessee.

The amount of power outages that remain affected by the storm include:

• Around 83,000 in Virginia
• More than 25,000 in West Virginia
• Around 3,600 in Tennessee

More than 4,000 contractors and employees with Appalachian Power are working on storm restoration, including crews from 21 states, with some being as far away as Wisconsin, and once crews restore power in southern West Virginia, they will travel and help areas in southern Virginia and northeast Tennessee.

Power restoration estimates for Appalachian Power customers includes:

• 11:00 p.m. on Monday, September 30, 2024 – Most customers in West Virginia. (Restoration for harder-hit areas could go into Tuesday, October 1, 2024).
• 11:00 p.m. on Monday, September 30, 2024 – For the areas in Virginia such as Christiansburg, Fieldale, Stuart, Pulaski, and Rocky Mount.
• 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 – For the Roanoke, Virginia area.
• 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 – For Beckley, Hico, Pineville, and Welch, West Virginia.
• 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 – For Kingsport, Tennessee, as well as areas such as Bluefield, Glade Spring, Glen Lyn, Grundy, Floyd, Lebanon, Tazewell, Woodlawn, and Wytheville, Virginia.

Appalachian Power stated that customers could see power restored before the estimated times, however areas that need extensive repairs could have longer restoration times. They also advised that other arrangements are recommended for people in areas without power who are on life support systems or who need uninterrupted electric service for health reasons.

If anyone comes across a downed power line, Appalachian Power advised people to not touch it, treat the power line as if it is live, and keep pets and children away from any downed power lines.

Do not try to drive through flooded roads, turn around and find a safer route. If the vehicle stalls or is stuck in rising water, leave it while you can and go to higher ground. Do not drive through standing water, because standing water can be deeper than it appears, have a fast current, and could hide objects such as debris, potholes, or downed power lines.

In the Storm Response Update, Appalachian Power stated that they cannot restore power to homes or businesses if the service entrance, which includes the metal box housing the meter, the “weatherhead” pipe on top of the meter box, the service entrance cables that run from the weatherhead through the meter box to the inside panel box, and other related facilities, is damaged.

Customers will need a qualified electrician to fix any damage before Appalachian Power can restore service to the house or business. Once any necessary repairs are made, customers can contact Appalachian Power to get power restored to the area.

Stick with 59News and StormTracker 59 for the most up to date weather information.

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