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W.Va. power outages could last for days

Journal photo by Edward Marshall A downed power line blocks Dry Run Road on Tuesday after a powerful thunderstorm left thousands without power.
Journal photo by Edward Marshall
A downed power line blocks Dry Run Road on Tuesday after a powerful thunderstorm left thousands without power.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Thousands of people throughout the Eastern Panhandle were left without power following Tuesday’s severe thunderstorm, and a power company spokesperson says it could take days to fully restore electricity to all affected customers.

The storm, which brought heavy rain and powerful winds, downed numerous trees and power lines throughout the region.

According to FirstEnergy’s Storm Center, as of 9 p.m. Tuesday, 81,234 customers in West Virginia were without power due to the storm. That included at least 11,176 customers in Berkeley County; 4,160 customers in Jefferson County; and 3,203 customers in Morgan County.

Todd Meyers, a media representative for FirstEnergy, said that the damage left in the storm’s wake was still being assessed Tuesday and the number of affected customers and outages could still rise.

“So many are coming in that it’s hard for the site to keep up, but I do expect those numbers will still climb throughout the evening a little bit,” Meyers said.

Meyers said the outages were all related to trees and wires that were knocked down during the storm, which he described as “powerful.”

“It was a small line that came through with a lot of heavy wind, a lot of heavy rain and some unconfirmed reports of more than 60 mph winds, so that is what’s taken trees into lines,” Meyers said.

Meyers said all of the power company’s crews were out working Tuesday and the company was just beginning to assess the damage. He said he does anticipate that it could become a multi-day outage for some customers.

“We’re just beginning to get our arms around what’s going on. We have all our crews out there working right now. We’ll be working throughout the evening, but I do anticipate this will be a multiple-day restoration,” said Meyers. “That means that, unfortunately, there will be some customers out of power for several days.”

Meyers said he couldn’t say for sure how many days outages could last, but more information will be available today as crews continue assessing the damage left by the storm.

Those without power should call 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877) to report an outage. Outage information is also available on FirstEnergy’s 24/7 Power Center Maps by visiting firstenergycorp.com…

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