Over 250 workers and REC employees continue around-the-clock efforts to restore power to more than 23,000 members who remain without service. That workforce, about double REC's normal force of line personnel, includes REC crews and more than 50 crews from other cooperatives.
Nearly 100 mutual aid linemen from Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina have arrived, with more expected from in-state electric co-ops that experienced less damage than REC. REC's service territory sustained some of the most significant damage in Virginia, with nearly 100% of members in several localities losing power at some point during the storm.
As of Saturday evening, REC had restored power to over 50 percent of the members who experienced an outage since the storm began late Thursday night. As crews begin to work through Sunday, they will continue the tedious task of repairing and, in some cases, rebuilding lines.
In all, more than 1,000 separate events - each representing anywhere from one outage to more than 500 - remain to be tackled. REC recognizes the frustration of members who remain without power and appreciates their patience as field crews work nonstop to bring back service after this devastating wind storm.
The storm toppled hundreds of trees and downed power lines often breaking poles and crossarms. REC estimates that at least 100 poles have been broken. The most significant damage remains in REC's western counties of Greene, Rappahannock, Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison and Warren.
REC provides electric service to over 165,000 connections in parts of 22 Virginia counties. With its general office in Fredericksburg, Va., the Cooperative operates and mainmaintains more than 17,000 miles of power lines through its service area, which ranges from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay. For more information about REC, please visit www.myrec.coop. Follow REC on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
