REC crews and contractors have restored several thousand outages after ice, heavy rain and even thunderstorms roared through Virginia overnight and into Thursday morning with Winter Storm Freya.
Crews from Southside Electric Cooperative, Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative and Community Electric Cooperative will join with REC and its contract crews to work as quickly and safely as possible to restore all outages. Some outages are expected to persist into the weekend. REC crews, contractors and teams from assisting cooperatives will continue their work until all power is restored.
“For those still without power, please know that our crews are working diligently to restore service as quickly and safely as possible,” said Casey Hollins, Managing Director – Communications and Public Relations. The number of outages will likely fluctuate throughout the day and evening as crews discover more damage and additional trees tumble onto power lines and poles.
In addition to traditional bucket trucks, REC is using specialized equipment such as track machines and big foot trucks to reach damage sites.
The already saturated ground has made some rights-of-ways difficult to access and also has contributed to the number of trees that have fallen.
The counties that experienced the most significant impacts were Culpeper, Greene, Madison, Rappahannock, Fauquier, Albemarle, Warren and Orange. In these areas, ice not only damaged power lines, but also caused branches and trees to fall onto electrical equipment and breaking utility poles. As crews travel for outage restoration, faced early morning challenges like dense fog, and throughout the day cutting trees from roadways, and navigating treacherous situations as trees continued to fall.
Important safety reminders:
- Critical safety reminder: Always stay well clear of downed power line or anything that might be in contact with the power line. Report downed lines to REC and call 911.
- To report an outage, members can visit myrec.coop/out, use the MyREC SmartHub app or text OUT to 63273
- Track outage restoration efforts in REC’s: myrec.coop/outagecenter.
