Situation
Appalachian Power Company (APCo) crews remain in the field tonight, Aug. 12, restoring service across West Virginia and Virginia after repeated rounds of severe weather caused significant damage throughout the company’s service territory. Since the storm response began late Monday, Aug. 10, crews have restored power to more than 73,000 customers across 1,400 outage locations, bringing service back to approximately 93% of customers affected by the back-to-back storms.
Restoration teams have faced hazardous and challenging conditions as they battled multiple storms with wind gusts up to 60 mph, which continued to saturate the ground, damage infrastructure and cause additional outages after Monday’s first wave.
Customer outages reached about 28,000 Monday evening before crews restored service to thousands of customers overnight. A new band of severe weather Tuesday afternoon caused additional damage and drove outages back up to roughly 25,000. Since then, crews have been completing damage assessments, making repairs and continuing to bring outage numbers down across the region.
Outages
By Wednesday evening, crews had continued to shrink the number of outages across both West Virginia and Virginia to 4,088 and 675, respectively. The strongest remaining concentrations are in parts of the Charleston, Hamlin and Wayne areas of West Virginia, as well as Clintwood, Virginia.
As assessments wrap up and repairs are completed, APCo is directing crews to the remaining outage pockets to assist with complex repairs.
Storm Response Efforts
A break from the heavy rain and damaging winds that swept through the service territory Monday and Tuesday allowed hundreds of line and forestry workers to make significant progress on restoration today. Crews continue working safely and efficiently in the field, shifting from completed repairs to nearby areas where damage remains.
Restoration work continues to follow APCo’s established process, with priority given first to critical facilities that support public health and safety, including hospitals, 911 centers and water treatment plants. From there, crews focus on repairs that restore power to the largest groups of customers before moving to smaller outages and individual service issues.
Weather Conditions
At this time, weather is favorable to service restoration. Appalachian Power’s Storm Response Team continues to monitor conditions and remains ready to respond if additional scattered storms create new outages.
Safety
Customers should stay away from all downed lines and treat them as energized and dangerous. Do not touch fallen power lines, sparking equipment or anything a line may be touching. Keep children and pets safely away from these areas.
Customers using generators should follow all manufacturer instructions. Generators should never be plugged into a wall outlet and should only be operated outdoors, away from windows and doors. Working carbon monoxide detectors should also be in place.
More safety information is available at AppalachianPower.com/Safety.
Estimated Times of Restoration (ETRs)
Appalachian Power crews remain in the field tonight and will continue working until service is restored. Despite challenging conditions, the Storm Response Team expects the majority of affected customers to have power restored by 11:59 p.m. today, Wednesday, Aug. 12. Some customers in areas with extensive damage or remote locations may see their estimated restoration time extended until Thursday, Aug. 13. All ETRs are available on the company’s real-time outage map at AppalachianPower.com.
For More Information
Customers can receive outage information specific to their account by signing up for Appalachian Power’s Outage Alerts by text message or email. To enroll, visit AppalachianPower.com/Alerts.
Current outage information and estimated restoration times are available anytime on Appalachian Power’s Outage Map.
Next Update: Thursday, Aug.13, 9 a.m..