- More than 500,000 customers lost power through midday Tuesday.
- Crews assessing damage as restoration process is underway.
- Customers should prepare and plan for potential multi-day outages.
Dominion Energy crews have begun restoration efforts following heavy rain, winds with gusts up to 60 mph, and reported tornados from Tropical Storm Isaias in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. In all, more than 500,000 customers experienced outages as a result of the fast-moving storm. In terms of number of customers impacted, it ranks as the 10th largest storm to date. Crews are already assessing damage and are working around-the-clock to restore power as safely and quickly as possible. As of midday Tuesday, power had been restored to more than 40% of those impacted. However, initial damage surveys indicate that it could take multiple days to restore service for affected customers, particularly in North Carolina, Hampton Roads, Northern Neck and the Middle Peninsula.
In preparation for the storm, Dominion Energy employees and contractors were staged and ready to support restoration efforts throughout the Carolinas and Virginia. With Dominion Energy South Carolina service territory experiencing few outages, available crews are being deployed to supplement North Carolina and Virginia restoration efforts, alongside other crews brought in prior to the storm's impact. Additionally, mutual assistance crews from as far away as Oklahoma are joining the restoration effort.
With the weather clearing, Dominion Energy patrol teams are out in force assessing damages. Mindful that many of our customers are working remotely, as a result of the pandemic, crews will work 24/7 with local public safety and emergency officials to restore power to essential services and facilities critical to public health and safety, such as hospitals, fire and police departments, and public water systems. Crews will then work to return service to the largest number of residential and business customers in the shortest amount of time. Once major repairs are completed, smaller groups of customers and individual homes and businesses will be restored.
