Good afternoon. I wanted to let you know that Dominion Virginia Power is prepared for the stormy weather that is forecasted for much of the Commonwealth today with the passage of a significant cold front. We expect thunderstorms capable of 50-75 mph gusts, a chance of tornados (especially across central Virginia), locally heavy lightning, and flash flooding to affect much of our service area throughout the afternoon and evening hours. In advance of these major storms, we are already experiencing gusty winds that could reach 40-50 mph in some places.
Our team of meteorologists has been providing us with updates about this storm over the past few days, giving us lead time to make plans, mobilize crews and get our resources ready. We are communicating with customers via our Web site (www.dom.com), social media and with the assistance of the traditional media in requesting them to make public service announcements.
The following information may be of help to you:
- Having a personal emergency plan and kit is very important. Emergency kits should include battery operated flashlights and radio, medications, non-perishable food and bottled water. Dominion’s website has many storm preparation and safety tips: https://www.dom.com/storm-center/index.jsp.
- Those served by well water may wish to fill bath tubs or store water by other means in event an outage disrupts their ability to draw water.
- If power outages do occur, please report the outage by calling Dominion at 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357). This is an important part of the restoration process and one way that our customers can help us in returning their electric service.
- Your safety is our priority. Please stay away from downed wires and trees that are leaning on power lines. Report any downed wires immediately to Dominion toll free at 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357) or call 911.
Should these storms cause widespread outages, our first major focus will be on critical infrastructure, public safety, and patrolling efforts to accurately provide restoration times for customers. We will provide individual estimated times of restoration (ETRs) as soon as possible, but in the event of large-scale damage providing accurate estimates can be difficult until we have a complete understanding of the reasons behind specific outages.
Due to recent destructive and catastrophic weather happenings in New Kent County, Delegate Peace, in collaboration with the New Kent County Fire and Rescue, is hosting an Emergency Preparedness Town Hall. Residents are encouraged to attend this important event to raise citizen awareness of things they can do, in advance, to prepare for severe weather. There will be service providers, public safety officials and many other stakeholders there to share with citizens things that can be done, both pre-weather and post-weather, to protect the safety and well being of citizens. There will also be many vendor information tables. Please bring friends, family and neighbors.
EVENT DETAILS: Wednesday, September 19 at 6:30PM at Fire Station 1, 4315 North Courthouse Rd, Providence Forge, VA 23140