RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion Energy restoration crews are out in force this morning and will continue to make repairs and restore service to 585,000 customers in Virginia and North Carolina who lost power due to Tropical Storm Michael. The powerful storm, previously a hurricane, blew through the region with torrential rain and tornadic wind conditions that topped 75 miles per hour in some areas. The heavy rain and wind damaged electric infrastructure and brought down trees on power lines in several regions served by the company.

Early reports confirm significant damage in many Dominion Energy locations, with pockets of catastrophic damage in south-central portions of Virginia and significant damage in Central Virginia, Gloucester/Northern Neck, Tidewater and northeastern North Carolina. Storm damage began at about 3 p.m. Thursday, and 585,000 customers experienced a service disruption in the past 24 hours. As of 7 a.m. Friday, nearly 450,000 customers remain without power.

Today, the focus will be on working 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.

Patrol teams will be out in force as well, assessing damage, gathering data and ensuring site-specific materials and equipment are ready for each restoration job. 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 are restored.

Early reports of damage include broken poles, cross arms and downed wire in many locations, as well as transmission lines impacted due to tree damage. There were multiple reports of tornadoes within our service territory. In Northern Neck, a tornado touched down and damaged a Dominion Energy substation.

Please stay away from downed wires and trees making contact with wires. Stay at least 30 feet away and report downed wires to 1-866-366-4357 immediately.  Please stay on the line to speak directly with an agent – it is very important for Dominion Energy to know the exact location of a downed wire.

Be sure to report your outage right away to help us with an efficient restoration. The quickest and easiest way is to report your outage on dominionenergy.com using your mobile device. You can also call us at 866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357).

Please remember to:

• Always report your outage by visiting https://www.dominionenergy.com/outage-center/report-and-check-outages calling 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357).
• Avoid downed power lines, which may be energized and deadly. Stay at least 30 feet away and make sure your family, pets, and neighbors avoid downed wires. Call 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357) and stay on the line to speak with an agent so we can make the area safe.
• Use caution when operating generators. Follow the manufacturer's instructions exactly and always operate outdoors with good ventilation.

About Dominion Energy

Nearly 6 million customers in 19 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The company is committed to sustainable, reliable, affordable, and safe energy and is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy with over $78 billion of assets providing electric generation, transmission and distribution, as well as natural gas storage, transmission, distribution, and import/export services. As one of the nation's leading solar operators, the company intends to reduce its carbon intensity 50 percent by 2030. Please visit www.DominionEnergy.com, Facebook or Twitter to learn more.

SOURCE Dominion Energy