REC and mutual aid crews worked through the night to restore service to members who lost power during what the National Weather Service described as a “mini derecho” Monday night.
As of 9 this morning, approximately 1,600 members remain without power. REC estimates the majority of those members will have service by late tonight. At the storm’s peak, more than 38,000 REC members had lost power.
“After Monday night, parts of our service territory looked like a war zone – with downed trees, broken poles, wires and transformers scattered across roads and yards,” said Robbie Beard, manager of REC’s western region. “The guys were able to restore many of the larger outages in the first day and are now focused on the nearly 300 separate smaller outage events scattered across 17 counties.”
On Tuesday, 24 mutual aid crews from neighboring electric cooperatives joined REC crews in restoration efforts. Monday night’s storms blanketed much of the state, bringing torrential downpours and winds of up to 75 mph. Today’s forecast calls for more afternoon and evening storms, which may slow restoration efforts.
REC provides electric service to over 167,000 connections in parts of 22 Virginia counties. With its general office in Fredericksburg, Va., the Cooperative operates and maintains 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.
